Camus, Castel and Cardinal artichoke production in Brittany has harvested over 6,000 tons more up to the 16th June than the same date last year. Small purple artichokes have also seen 9 million heads more harvested compared to last year. Christophe Moal, President of the UCPT artichoke committee and cauliflower and artichoke producer, says that “It is a very complicated start to the season, catastrophic even following a cauliflower season that wasn’t good either.”
In general, the artichoke season in Brittany starts progressively over the second fortnight of May. Christophe Moal explains that every year they are in competition with production from the Pyrénées-Orientales (from early March to mid-May following on from Spanish production) which always tries to prolong their harvest, making the start of the season difficult for Breton producers.
Xavier Thépaut, Head of Markets and Artichokes at the UCPT, says that “Weather conditions were against us. Even though we have a super product in terms of quality with round heads, green stalks and tight bracts.” He explains that Breton artichoke producers work to keep the 5,200 hectares stable but that artichokes demand a lot of manual labour, which is hard to find. Mr Thépaut worries that as producers are getting old, young farmers may be put off artichoke production when they see a season begin like this one has.
Breton production was held up until the end of April due to drought. However, this was followed by 200mm of rain over the first 10 days of May. Thanks to the warm weather that then followed, the artichokes grew well until harvest which began on the 15th May. However, the Pyrénées-Orientales were stil in full production mode and prices were soon very low with much unsold volume. In May, Breton production (on average 250 tons/day) would suffice to fulfil the entire French market. This year, from the 29th May-3rd June, Breton production reached an average 500 tons/day - some days as copious as 650 tons/day.
Christophe Moal says that they have harvested all of the plots that are 3 years or older and they are now onto the plants that are in their second year. “From mid-August to October, we will harvest the artichokes planted in April-May this year.” However, he says that the potential is less good for the second year artichokes, “We will not be able to reach the 650 gram calibre that buyers want”. Also, if the weather stays hot and dry, producers will have to bring the harvest forward to avoid over maturity. Producers hope the heatwave won’t stay for too long to avoid consumers turning away from artichoke consumption. Producers hope for the prices to increase strongly until the end of the season, but it won’t make up for the difficult start.