SARL Biogaronne will start harvesting its first greenhouse Gariguette around the 15th of March. Vanessa Bersuat, Sales and Purchasing Manager for Organic Fruits & Vegetables, is hoping for a better campaign than the previous one. “The 2021 season was rather limited, with large volumes but a lack of consumption due to the very rainy spring. In general, we sell between 22 and 28 tons of strawberries per year, including 7 tons of Gariguette. This year, we expect to sell about 10 to 15 tons of Gariguette alone and we should once again be among the first to put organic Gariguette on the market thanks to the high level of sunshine from which the region benefits."
Growing demand for organic strawberries
Besides the Gariguette, Biogaronne also offers other varieties of strawberries such as the Séraphine, Laetitia, Cléry and Mariguette. All benefit from the Agriculture Biologique label, as do the other fruit and vegetables sold by the company. In recent years, the demand for organic strawberries has been growing.
“Conventional strawberries have a bad reputation because of the use of pesticides but the growing demand for organic strawberries is more marked than for other products. The past two years have been quite peculiar since 2020 coincided with the first lockdown during which the demand for organic products exploded, while 2021 showed a decline in consumption probably due to unfavorable weather.”
Low consumption of organic fruit and vegetables
Apart from the strawberry, the organic market is not immune to the difficulties that the conventional market is currently experiencing. The increase in production costs is confronted with the low level of consumption.
“Today, costs are increasing at all levels: raw materials, labor, energy…everything is becoming more expensive. And in addition to that, since June 2021 and especially since October 2021, the consumption of organic products is not dynamic at all. The increasing number of labels appearing on the market also puts a brake on the consumption of organic products. Between organic, HEV, local and reasoned agriculture, zero pesticides…the consumer is lost, which in the end does not serve the organic production well, as many consumers then prefer to buy a conventional product with a label rather than a more expensive organic product.”
New and completely redesigned trays
In terms of packaging, Biogaronne has also recently adapted to the AGEC law and to the demands from its clients. “With the sanitary crisis, our clients no longer want a fully open tray. They also do not want the strawberries to be sold in a completely opaque packaging that doesn’t let consumers see the product. In order to adapt to the market and the demand of our clients, we are currently finalizing a new, completely redesigned tray.”
The company sells its production of organic strawberries with the Southwest Organic Fair Trade label under the Biogaronne brand. Besides strawberries, Biogaronne sells a wide range of organic fruit and vegetables including apples, kiwis, strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, lamb’s lettuce, salads, tomatoes and cucumbers from 80 producers of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine and Occitania regions of France.
For more information:
Vanessa Bersuat - Sales Manager
Biogaronne
Romas RD 13, 47130 Port-Saint-Marie
Phone: 05 53 98 39 10
v.biogaronne@orange.fr
http://biogaronne.info