This week has been marked by the start of Fruit Union’s first shipments of Salanque carrots. This is the second year that the company is supplying carrots to its customers in winter: “We already tested the crop last year, with around 100 tons of carrots marketed. Our customers very much appreciated these open ground carrots, which allowed them to fill the gap until the start of the spring carrot season in April (in other production areas). Given the success that the product has met, we decided to repeat the experience this winter, this time with a marketing objective of around 600,000 bunches," says Laurent Vichard, Director of Commercial Operations at Fruit Union.
"With the carrot from Salanque, we have an extremely fresh product"
The Salanque carrot is a variety from Nantes that has adapted perfectly to the southern territories. "It has an intense color, it is fleshy, sweet and very good in terms of taste. It is a renowned variety that does very well in Salanque, allowing us to guarantee the supply of a quality carrot of great freshness to our customers." In fact, Salanque carrots are harvested to be sold on the same day, 6 days a week.
"We sell stone fruits in summer and vegetables in winter"
As a delegated commercial structure, Fruit Union sells fresh fruits and vegetables from organic and traditional agriculture and from many production areas, especially the Rhône Valley and Languedoc-Roussillon. We work in different places across the Mediterranean arc, which allows us to offer and promote products grown in different areas. Our vulnerability to climatic factors is therefore lower than that of our colleagues established at a more regional level.
Although Fruit Union has a structure built around stone fruit, which currently accounts for around half of its turnover, they also sell vegetables from French territories such as the Rhone Valley or Roussillon all year round. The main crops on offer are sweet potatoes, lettuce, celery and carrots, and artichokes in spring. "This strategic approach allows us to offer our customers fruits and vegetables throughout the year. Furthermore, the location of our different production areas in the south allows us to spread out the production schedule. As an example, we started the first apricot harvests in May and the last in September."
"We focus on the local and we have the support of producers who are not afraid of entrepreneurship"
Fruit Union is strongly attached to its origins, supporting the local and the work of its producers. "As a company based in the south, arboriculture is part of our DNA, but we do not want to limit ourselves to this production. For us, it is very important to innovate and be the key players of our projects. We cannot ask our customers to stop buying products from Spain if we cannot offer them quality French products. We benefit from a certain technical recognition in the market, as well as from working with many young producers who are dynamic, without fear of entrepreneurship, who love to break with the norm and are not afraid to try marketing new crops, even if they are not common in the region."
Fruit Union sells its production in France to retailers, wholesalers and supermarkets. Although the company offers a wide range of organic products (broccoli, cabbage, pak choi, romanesco, spinach, sweet potato), it is also committed to a third way. "We already have the ZRP certificate for our apricot production and now we are working in the development of a ZRP range for other vegetables."
For more information:
Laurent Vichard
Fruit Union
Tél : +33 6 74 44 81 06
l.vichard@fruits-union.com