“Growing further in Europe”

In the first week of February the French company Idyl started the Moroccan Nadorcott season. The French company is best known for its Charentais melons, which are marketed under the Idyl brand, but the company offers more products, amongst them, Nadorcott mandarins from Morocco.

Philippe Puech, Hugues Moyollet, Jean-Jacques Journeaux from Idyl.

“Idyl just started the Nadorcott harvest,” say the team of Idyl during the Fruit Logistica earlier this month. The company sells about 3.000 tons of Nadorcott mandarins from their own plantation in the North African country Morocco on an annual basis. “The season ends half March and the expectations are good. The calibres are nice this year.” The plantations of Idyl are situated in Chichaoua, in between the well-known city Marrakech and the coastal city Essaouira. Thanks to the nearby sea the humidity is good and thanks to the heat the fruit ripens well.

Prize winning melons
The season starts for the best known product of Idyl: melons. That season starts in March and ends in May. Every year about 4.000 tons of melons are harvested. “We are melon specialists ; we have a good variety and thanks to the good climate in Morocco we grow good melons. Our experts decide the best moment for harvest. At arrival in France the melons are perfect for sale.” The moment of harvest is set by the colouring of the leaves. Next to this every melon has a brix of 14. “The weather has been good, we expect a good melon season.” For the tenth year on a row the melons of Idyl won the Saveur de l’année 2018. This prize is given to the tastiest product in the contest.

Idyl markets its own products, which are grown in Morocco, in the French home market. In addition to the French market Idyl exports to countries within Europe, mainly Italy, Switzerland, UK and Germany. We want to grow our presence in Europe in the coming years.” The Italian market has a big interest in the melons of Idyl. “Italian consumers know what a good melon is and they appreciate our melons prior to the start of their own season.”

Stone fruit, raspberries and dates
In the region of Agadir, Idyl grows peaches and nectarines. Between April and May the stone fruits are harvested. “We have yellow flesh peaches and white and yellow flesh nectarines.” The company markets about 500 tons of stone fruit on a yearly basis. Two years ago Idyl invested in raspberry growing. Two cultivation locations, one in Morocco and one in the Provence, were set up to guarantee a year round supply. “This is a growing market, but only if the raspberries are nicely packed.”

More information:
Idyl France
33 (0)4 90 24 20 01
contact@idyl.fr
www.idyl.fr