French produce grower-marketer Prim’land plans to double its asparagus volumes in 2013.
The firm, based in south-west France near Biarritz, aims to strengthen its asparagus offer by linking up with growers throughout France to sell their crops.
“Prim’land will develop new partnerships with growers from different French producing regions, such as the south-east and Loire Valley thus supplying a robust line in terms of availability and volume,” says the company’s Jean-Baptiste Pinel.
Prim’land, which has been selling asparagus since 1995, marketed around 100 tonnes of French white and purple asparagus in 2012 under its Sabline brand.
“Our asparagus is principally marketed in France, but we also export to neighbouring countries, such as Germany, Switzerland and Luxembourg,” says Pinel.
“Traditional French fresh asparagus consumers are getting old, and we hope that some communication programmes will be put in place to win over new consumers,” he adds.
Prim'land is planning to roll out promotional material this season featuring advice on how to prepare asparagus, as well as recipe suggestions.
The French asparagus season will start later than usual – from 17 March to late May – due to heavy rains in January, which prevented work from being carried out in the fields.
