The Gariguette, one of the early varieties launching the strawberry season, has reached its production peak for its first cycle. Vivien Bouthier, director of the Aiguillon site, and Guillaume Baraille, sales director at France Food, take stock of what has so far been a promising season in every aspect.
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7,000 tons expected by 2025
For this season, the strawberry and red fruit specialist is forecasting a harvest volume of 7,000 tons of French strawberries at the Aiguillon site. "95% of our production takes place within a 15km radius of the station. The other 5% come from as far away as the Tarn-et-Garonne region, no more than a one-hour drive from the site," explains Vivien Bouthier. "We are now halfway through the Gariguette campaign, having reached the first production peak. Volumes will start to decrease over the next few days, before rising again in May for the second crop."
A very positive outlook for the Gariguette season
So far, the Gariguette season has gone very well. "We were well prepared for the season, which has enabled us to obtain a larger load of fruit than last year. All the meteorological parameters worked in our favor to encourage linear production, with good volumes and high-quality strawberries. We had a rather cloudy autumn, which gave the strawberry plants the impression of entering the winter season earlier. The very cold winter that followed was excellent for strawberries, and the mild spring was also favorable for production."
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Good harvest potential for round strawberries
While we can already look forward to a positive Gariguette season, it is still too early to predict if the round varieties will follow the same trend. "For round varieties, the season started later. We are now at the start of the exponential curve, and volumes are beginning to pick up, but at this stage, we cannot say whether the season will be positive or not. This will depend, among other things, on the timing of production peaks. At the moment, the weather is not very good, alternating between warm, sunny days and cold, gray spells. It is therefore difficult to have a very clear view of volumes, but at time T, round strawberries have also benefited from the good weather conditions of the last three seasons. There is potential, and it will now depend on when the sunny weather will come back and how long it will last."
A campaign launch made easier by the low presence of Spanish origin
In trade as in production, all the indicators also seem to be good. "Strawberries remain very popular at the start of the campaign. It is the first fruit to open the French fruit season, so it has a special place in the hearts of French consumers," explains Guillaume Baraille. "The competitive environment in which the campaign begins, however, can be quite disruptive at the start of the strawberry season. This year, the launch of the campaign took place without much competition from Spanish strawberries, both in terms of volume and quality, so French strawberries were all the more welcome. The lines opened up quickly, and sales have been very good so far, picking up again over the Easter weekend. So far, the campaign is proceeding coherently and logically."
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Raising strawberry prices is vital for the sector to survive
Guillaume Baraille describes the remuneration system as "coherent," thanks to distributors' awareness of production costs in the wake of the health crisis. "There was a radical change in 2023 when the selling price was put in line with production costs. This change was vital for the French strawberry sector to survive, and corresponded to a need for remuneration. Farmers' protests in Paris at a strategic time in terms of political decision-making also helped to bring about this fair revaluation of French strawberries, in the face of a drastic increase in energy prices and production costs."
Although these price trends continue today, Vivien Bouthier and Guillaume Baraille point to the need to remain extremely vigilant. "These prices must be maintained because they are necessary for the stability and growth of the French strawberry sector. It is important to understand that strawberries are no longer produced the way they used to be. Today's production requires heavy investment, which is very costly in terms of energy. As marketers, our role is to help perpetuate the French strawberry sector and find the right balance for producers and distributors. It is this mindset that has led to our strong growth, with tonnage doubling in 3 years without losing any producers."
Communication: An important factor for a successful campaign
A revaluation of French strawberries would be fair to consumers, as the demand has not decreased. "Communication is also an important factor in the success of a campaign. Last year, for example, when there were fears that the market would collapse at the wrong time to coincide with the peak in Gariguette production, the association of producers did a very good job by communicating extensively in advance. Most retailers played their part by promoting the French origin, and consumers came out in force to defend the French strawberries that are so dear to them."
For more information:
Elise Philippot
France Food
Phone: +33 (0)1 56 34 00 03