by Yann Tessier
LE POULIGUEN, France, Aug 8 (Reuters) – Salt producers in Loire-Atlantique are expecting a record harvest this year, reluctantly benefiting from the drought and heat waves that have hit France in recent weeks .
Salt production soared in the commune of Guérande, as temperatures reached 40oC, which accelerated the evaporation of seawater in the absence of precipitation.
Guérande salt is renowned the world over, its fleur de sel – the thin layer of crystals that forms on the surface of salt marshes – being considered one of the finest salts available on the market. It is sold in particular in the United States at more than 100 dollars per kilogram.
“We are heading towards record production”, explains François Durand, an independent salt producer who has been working in the salt marshes for more than twenty years.
About 1.3 tons of salt per crystallization area has been produced on average over the past ten years but this year production is already at more than 2.5 tons per “carnation”, he said. .
François Durand acknowledges that this makes him one of the few winners of global warming, as forest fires rage in parts of France and several towns face shortages of drinking water.
“We can say that, yes. Unfortunately,” he said. “It’s clear that we are not going to complain about it.”
In a region best known for its oceanic climate, the absence of precipitation for more than 40 days and the light winds promote water evaporation.
The sauniers, or salt workers, who collect the salt in the salt marshes, work without interruption from sunrise.
The methods used to harvest salt have evolved very little in nearly four centuries. No machine is used during the process.
It is under a blazing sun that the salt workers harvest the salt in wheelbarrows which they push along the crystallizers.
“The salt workers are tired,” explains Mathilde Bergier, a salt producer who also runs a business. “It’s been over 40 days since it rained on the swamps enough to take a break.”
She fears that the intensive cadences caused by the strong sunshine will be unsustainable, and that the crystallization areas, small rectangular basins in which the salt is harvested, will not withstand it in the long term.
Regional producers may wonder, at the end of this record season, what they will do with all the salt they have harvested if such a situation were to become the norm. Several producers told Reuters that they have already built up salt reserves for several years.
“There are some who have already stopped the season,” said Mathilde Bergier. (French version Camille Raynaud, edited by Kate Entringe)