This year's strawberry season has gone rather well, but it is currently experiencing some difficulty due to the hot weather, which is making the product more fragile and encouraging consumers to turn to other summer fruits. It has been a complicated few weeks, but sales are still good for Vincent Chaban of Fruits Rouges du Confluent, based in the French department of Lot-et-Garonne. "I manage to sell my produce, but prices are not as good as they were at this time last year when the weather was much cooler. The high temperatures also greatly sped up the ripening of the strawberries and can affect their quality, which has led to a selection of varieties."
© Vincent Chaban
A selection of varieties and a reduction in production areas
Despite this difficult context for production, Vincent Chaban puts things into perspective. "We have just come off a major production peak for round strawberries and we had to stop growing the Gariguette variety prematurely three weeks ago because the fruit harvested no longer met our quality criteria. I was also forced to suspend production on certain plots due to grouped ripening and a lack of manpower, aggravated by even higher temperatures in the greenhouses, making harvesting incompatible with acceptable working conditions. We have now refocused on varieties that are aesthetically attractive and will produce well into the autumn. This is not a huge loss, as we were at the end of the cycle, and it is also a fairly normal situation at this time of year, as the heat often tends to reduce production areas. For now, we get by with the varieties we have kept. We just hope the temperatures will not get any hotter or last for several weeks."
A generally satisfactory strawberry season so far
Vincent Chaban grows strawberries in 12 hectares of greenhouses. "We only grow above-ground strawberries: 30% Gariguette, 20% very tasty round strawberries, and 50% standard round strawberries. Apart from this early end to the season, we were generally satisfied with the Gariguette campaign this year. As for the tasty round variety, it is a very popular product that sells easily. For the last three weeks, the market has been very tight. And generally speaking, this makes the buyers more demanding, which requires more sorting during packing."
Besides growing strawberries, Fruits Rouges du Confluent is also a nursery, growing strawberry plants to supply its own production, and it produces kiwi fruits as well.
For more information:
Vincent Chaban
Fruits Rouges du Confluent
vincent@fruitsrougesduconfluent.com