“Though the Marmande represents a very small part of our production, we are looking to the future with this variety,” said Aurelien Serrault of Le Jardin de Rabelais. “Cherry tomatoes will still be about 80 percent of what we do, but we see increased growth with this new variety.” The Marmande represents the grower's efforts to find new varieties that are better-tasting and can be grown with better yields. The market is ready for more sophisticated varieties, noted Aurelien, and this is a step in that direction.
“Consumers are evolving and willing to pay a little more for better product,” he said. “We are here to fulfill that demand.” Demand has been such that Aurelien said the company has steadily increased its production capacity every year. It now has 11.5 hectares spread out across five greenhouses, the most recent addition being made in 2013. The fruits of that are exported to England, Spain, Germany and Belgium as well as being sold on the French market, mostly through wholesalers.In addition to cherry and Marmande tomatoes, Les Jardins de Rabelais also grows tomatoes on the vine, which represents about 15 percent of total production. Those are bigger than the cherry tomatoes, though, at about 60 to 70 grams, they are smaller than the Marmande tomatoes.
For more information:
Aurelien Serrault
Le Jardin de Rabelais
[email protected]
www.lejardinderabelais.fr
