The Languedoc company Cofruid’Oc Méditerranée has ended its apple season. Philippe Jean, sales manager of the company, explains that the campaign has not been easy. “We had a whole series of weather conditions that affected the production. Strikes in France and the coronavirus did not help matters either.”
Weather challenges
“The spring of 2019 was marked by several frost episodes and very windy days. We also observed quite abundant physiological fruit drops in May and June. Many fruits were marked by the wood. At the end of June, temperatures went up to 46 ºC and the fruits were scorched on the trees. Then, the hailstorm during the week following the heatwave damaged part of the fruits that had survived,” explains Philippe.
For Cofruid’Oc, the weather conditions mostly impacted the Granny Smith, one of the key varieties of the company. “The harvest was very weak this year. For the other varieties, volumes were more decent, although the harvest of late varieties like the Pink Lady was strongly affected by the rain. But other regions have been even more impacted than us, like Italy or the southwest of France.”
The impact of strikes
At the social level, the past campaign was not without constraints either. “The weeks before Christmas, some yellow vests blocked large retailers, which severely affected marketing. The strikes also had a great impact on large exports with the blockage of harbors.”
Then, the coronavirus crisis appeared. According to Philippe, the coronavirus did not have a negative impact on apples. “With the implementation of hygiene measures for safety and a strong involvement from the staff, we were able to continue packing. The demand for apples increased, especially at the beginning of the lockdown. The pandemic also favored the shipment of apples in Europe.”
However, shipments outside of Europe have been disrupted by the virus. “Given the uncertainty of the markets, we decided to stop shipping to Asia at the beginning of the crisis. Large exports represent 10% of our activity and we were able to replace the merchandise on the European market. Most of the apples were sold to supermarkets which, at the start of the lockdown, actually reduced their fruit range in favor of apples in particular.”
Taking stock, Philippe concludes that overall, the 2019-2020 campaign was neither exceptional, nor catastrophic. “But at the producer level, the situation varies a lot, depending on the varieties and the impact of the weather conditions.”
For more information:
Cofruid’Oc Méditerranée
Phone: +33 (0)4 67 91 90 15
Mobile: +33 6 12 46 38 28
philippe.jean@cofruidoc.fr
www.cofruidoc.com