Romain Benard, La Benarderie : "More than a farm, we wanted to make La Benarderie a real place to live"by FreshPlaza

A “real place to live” — that’s what Romain Benard aimed to create on his family farm located in Hourtin, in the Médoc region. A place where people can enjoy nature over lunch at a shaded picnic area, pick their own fruits and vegetables grown on the farm, or enjoy family-friendly activities like getting lost in a giant corn maze, playing mini-golf, or riding pedal go-karts.

“The idea is for everyone to find a reason to spend the day at La Benarderie. We wanted to create a place that appeals to children, teenagers, and adults alike,” says Romain Benard.

The farm grows around fifteen products, including apples (with 8 varieties), berries (blackcurrants, blueberries, redcurrants, strawberries, etc.), summer vegetables (peppers, tomatoes, eggplants, zucchinis, etc.), squashes, and of course, the farm’s star product: asparagus.

“We mainly grow white asparagus over 40 hectares, with a potential harvest of around 270 tonnes. I work alongside my parents on the farm, and we have 10 full-time employees. During asparagus harvest, around 40 seasonal workers from Andalusia come to help us. We’ve had the same team for seven years, and we house them at the campsite opposite the farm.”

Romain Benard

Diversifying sales channels to reduce risk

To market the 270 tonnes of harvested asparagus, the Benard family uses three distribution channels:

“We sell 200 tonnes directly — either from the farm shop, where customers can also find our other vegetables as well as grocery and dairy products from neighboring farms, or at the nine markets we attend weekly. Then we sell 70 tonnes to the cooperative. We chose to diversify our sales channels to reduce risk. Direct sales are more profitable and rewarding, but also much more labor-intensive. Selling through a cooperative allows us to move larger volumes, though at a lower value. The two channels complement each other well.”

Higher volumes this year but lower average prices than last season

While the asparagus season began on February 17, the Benard family is wrapping it up this week.

“Unlike the 2024 campaign, we had more volume this year, but it was slightly less well-valued, even though the quality and sizes were good. Overall, though, we’re quite satisfied with this season. The biggest challenge in asparagus production is that volumes are highly weather-dependent. And in tough years, if the small quantities harvested don’t bring good prices, the season can be a disaster. Once again, having multiple distribution channels helps us reduce that risk.”