"We should have been earlier with artichokes," said Emmanuel Descloux of Prince de Bretagne. "But that was delayed because it was wet and cold during April, May and the beginning of June." The bright side of the situation, noted Descloux, is that the delayed harvest brings the potential for a longer season with high production.
"We're shipping 400 tons of artichokes every day, and we'll continue that trend until the end of June, maybe even into July," he said. If that trend holds, it would represent, according to Descloux, a 20 percent increase over a normal year.
Prince de Bretagne, a grower, shipper and exporter of produce based in the French region of Brittany, currently has three artichoke varieties available. The Camus, the more traditional variety, has a dark green color with a round, firmly closed head. The Castel, an offshoot of the Camus, has a bright green color and a large, fleshy heart. Both are typically available from May through November, though a delayed season this year means that availability could stretch beyond that.
The third variety, "petit violet", is a small, purple and mediteranean type of artichoke, which is consumed in France, Italy and Spain mostly. This variety is available from now untill October.
In total Prince de Bretagne grows 45,000 tons artichoke per year, which represents 80 % of the total French production.
For more information:
Emmanuel Descloux
Prince de Bretagne
Tel: +33 298 693 900
[email protected]
www.prince-de-bretagne.com