Raspberries are a very demanding but fascinating product

On his plot of 2,500m², Thomas Le Bot grows raspberries, mainly for French pastry chefs, as well as supermarkets. The harvest started 3 weeks ago, and this year's raspberries are more fragile than last year's,” according to the feedback from the pastry chefs. Raspberries are a “very demanding but exciting” product, according to Thomas.

The difficulty lies in “finding the right variety for each client, which takes time. EARL Le Bot hopes to find varieties that are more resistant but just as tasty. “For the moment, we grow the Vajolet variety. Ideally, we would like to switch to the Lagoraï, a highly productive variety with better resistance, for pastry chefs, and keep the Vajolet for supermarkets.” The search for varietal improvement continues as “raspberries are still an underdeveloped sector in France, with little technical feedback, unlike other fruits.”

The demand is very good this year
The campaign should last until the end of October, when the last harvests will take place. Despite the very good demand, the campaign is a little “tighter” this year, according to Thomas. “Sales have been a little unusual this year given the economic context, especially since raspberries remain a rather expensive pleasure product.”