The lychee season on Reunion Island is drawing to a close. This year's campaign has been atypical, to say the least, forcing professionals to adapt constantly. Jean-Marc Boyer, of the Boyer company, takes a look back at the season.
© Boyer
A delay that had an impact
The first particularity was a significant delay that was not easy to manage. "The season got off to an unusual start with a delay of two weeks that completely shifted the campaign. While the decline normally takes place between Christmas and New Year's Day, it is only this week that we are experiencing it this year. Producers are stopping one after the other, and the season should end next week. There are still lychees, but in very small quantities. We therefore had to cope with large volumes between Christmas and New Year, while at the same time dealing with a rather unusual calendar this year. The long weekends and public holidays falling on a Thursday naturally had an impact on logistics and sales. In order to ensure optimum freshness and shelf rotation during this period, we had to cut back on some of our picking. As a result, we were not able to salvage the full potential of the orchards."
Much higher volumes this year
Unlike the two previous seasons, volumes are also much higher this year. "This campaign has nothing to do with what we experienced in 2023 and 2024. We are back to tonnage relative to a traditional year, around 50% up on last year. By the end of the season, we will have harvested 700 tons of lychees."
On the value-added side, while production targets have been met, they have not always been satisfactory in commercial terms. "Prices are currently at cruising speed, although they did hit some lows at certain points during the season." All in all, this season was very atypical, but "fairly decent" on the whole.
For more information:
Boyer
Z.I. Borde-Rouge
100 rue François Charmeux
82200 Moissac
France
Phone: +33 (0)5 63 04 15 64
[email protected]
www.philibon.com
