Raw materials. Asparagus, a prestigious vegetable, looks great on the early-market stalls. It gives the signal for the spring tables. A year ago, at the time of the first confinement, the light of the media spots was focused on the French asparagus groves. As consumers flocked to the pasta and flour shelves, they shunned fresh produce. And the asparagus perished in the fields… Another crucial question: who was going to use the gouge to cut the underground stalk of the precious vegetable, if the seasonal workers could not cross the borders?
The alert launched by the producers has borne fruit. Large retailers have mobilized to promote tricolor fruits and vegetables. And the seasonal workers have succeeded in playing through the wall. “ For eight to ten days there was no sale, but ultimately after the awareness, 2020 was quite a good year. If we lost 5% to 10% of the volumes, they were more than compensated by the prices. Our turnover increased by 10% ”, explains Christophe Paillaugue, market gardener in Boos, in the Landes, and president of the Copadax cooperative.
A year later, the asparagus remains upright in its boots. “People can no longer go to restaurants, they have fun buying their food”, underlines Mr. Paillaugue. Even if the greediest must have gnawed their brakes before biting into the juicy stems. The cold of winter delayed the growth and the first immaculate points emerged from the black sand of the Landes at the end of February. Now, mid-season, the volumes are there and the prices are not sinking. At the exit of the farm, the kilo of asparagus stamped IGP Sables des Landes goes to 5 euros, or even 6 euros, per kilo, or 50 cents more than in 2020.
Small flat, the gel
Small flat, however, the frost, which hit many French regions, Wednesday 7 and Thursday 8 April, did not spare the asparagus. “The temperature has dropped to – 6 ° C, we lost 15% to 20% of production for two days ”, says David Ducourneau, producer in Saint-Martin-d’Oney (Landes), but he immediately relativizes the fate of arborists. Some have seen their apricot crop of the year go up in smoke overnight, despite backfires lit to combat the frosts. Asparagus, on the other hand, has the good taste to continue to grow when the mercury rises.
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