Despite the poor weather conditions, the garlic harvest has just begun for Ferme des Arches, in the two production basins of the organization of 53 growers. Dominique Viel, sales and marketing director, provides an update on the start of the campaign.
Production basin in Drôme department
"Harvest earliness has faded"
This year, the season was well ahead of schedule, but the rainy weather then changed things a little. "The earliness in March quickly faded due to the sustained rainfall throughout the spring," explains Dominique Viel, sales manager at Ferme des Arches. "We eventually returned to a normal calendar in terms of seasonality."
The harvest will have to go through the drying stage before reaching supermarket shelves at the end of the month, when the first volumes will be transferred from Spain to France. Violet garlic from the Drôme basin is also starting to emerge from the ground, and should start being marketed at the beginning of July.
Garlic of the Beauce production basin
"The campaign will play out in the coming weeks"
"We are currently in the transition period between the old and new harvests, so it is still too early to draw conclusions. The campaign will play out over the next 3-4 weeks. We are waiting for the first harvests to get underway so that we can have a clearer picture and draw up a marketing plan. Harvesting will also depend on product size and maturity." On the market, the dynamic is positive, with "good consumption of large and small sizes, and good sales since the beginning of the year," explains Dominique Viel, who even notes recovery levels similar to the Covid period. Another trend is the increase in small-caliber sales, for the first-price segment, which has been favored by supermarkets for several months now, as well as by many consumers.
Garlic harvest in the Drôme basin
For more information:
Dominique Viel
Ferme des Arches
Tel: +33 37 32 10 10
fermedesarches.com