As the asparagus season gets underway, Astrid Etèvenaux, director of the Asperges de France association, takes stock of the harvest forecasts for the 2024 campaign, and of the trends in French production and consumption.
Decrease in cultivated surface areas
"Overall, our association is forecasting a 7% reduction in surface area under production in 2024. The forecast is still 3% higher than for 2023. The renewal rate is exceptionally low this year (4%), while it must reach 10% to maintain equivalent production." This low rate can be explained by several factors, including "retirements, and conversions to other crops that are more advantageous or easier to manage. Growing asparagus is labor-intensive, and the cost of production continues to rise from 2021. This season is more isolated, with major awareness campaigns run by cooperatives such as Maïsadour, Arterris, Fleuron d'Anjou and Copadax to encourage new growers to take up this beautiful crop, which has been attracting real enthusiasts. The trend is set to reverse next year."
Photo credit: Asperges de France
Slow start to the season
Every year, the French asparagus season kicks off in mid-February in the southwest of the country. This year, the season started rather slowly, mainly due to abundant rainfall. "It has been raining a lot recently, which has been cooling the soil and slowing down growth but should not impact quality. The challenge for the region this year will be to coincide the production peak with Easter, which is very early in the calendar compared with other years." The changing weather conditions make this rather complicated for growers. "The weather forecast changes every day, so it is very difficult to have precise visibility on quantities. As for the other production basins, while volumes in the southeast of France are set to increase this week, the Loire Valley is expected to start growing in the open field over the Easter period. What is certain is that there will be enough French asparagus this spring."
Photo credit: Asperges de France
Staggered campaign at the national level
The situation may be complicated for Easter but "the campaign as a whole should be staggered this year at the national level, which is rather positive. This means that it will be possible to supply the market throughout the season, which extends from the end of February for the earliest varieties to mid-June for the latest."
Maintaining interest throughout the season
In order to keep consumers interested throughout the campaign, Asperges de France is once again planning a communication campaign aimed at the general public. "In 2023, we recorded a 10% drop in consumption, which had already fallen by 15% in 2022 (Kantar data), despite our awareness campaigns. To reverse this trend, our objective this year will be to make asparagus a springtime staple from March until June. We need to create a buzz around this vegetable and generate anticipation. Today, consumers think that the season is shorter, but they can actually enjoy fresh asparagus for more than three months."
Photo credit: Asperges de France
Asperges de France is using social networks to get the message across. Recipes will also accompany this communication campaign to show consumers different ways of cooking and preparing both green and white asparagus. "We have planned a number of attractive promotional actions to boost the demand. French production is diversifying, offering even more fine products, with two PGIs and a newly-obtained Red Label. These are all quality labels that add value to the French asparagus production."
For more information:
Astrid Etèvenaux
AOP Nationale Asperges de France
astrid.etevenaux@carottes-de-france.fr
www.asperges-de-france.fr