As the French strawberry season starts, the situation on the market is more complicated than ever. In all of France, strawberries are not selling very well. Because of the strengthening of the health security measures announced on Monday, there are even fewer people in the supermarkets. The closure of the open-air markets makes the situation even worse.
Given this particular context, the producers of l’As du Ventoux are picking their strawberries as the orders come. “We only pick the strawberries that we are certain to ship,” explains Mireille Gaspard, salesperson of the company. Mireille thinks that many strawberries will be thrown away. “The demand is too low. As long as the production exceeds the sales, we cannot get all the volumes out. Some producers will not be able to end their year.”
In terms of quality, there is no particular problem this year. “We have very nice and tasty strawberries.”
No shortage of workers yet
Due to this weak demand, there is no shortage of workers yet at the production level. “Producers do not need a lot of pickers, and for them, the difficulties encountered by foreign workers trying to cross the borders have had no consequences yet. This affects distribution platforms more, where new absences are noted every day.”
Mireille foresees considerable problems for the stone fruit campaign. “Pickers cannot come from abroad anymore. This will certainly have consequences in the coming weeks.”
For more information:
Mireille Gaspard
L’As du Ventoux
Phone: +33 7 81 57 45 37
as.du.ventoux@wanadoo.fr