Earliness in production that shifts the consumption peak
The situation is similar to the 2022 season, which faced similar difficulties in terms of a lack of consumption. “When we started growing asparagus 20 years ago, we started the season in May, and Mother’s Day marked our peak in production. Today, thanks to advances in production techniques, we can start as early as the beginning of April. The big production areas in the south have also moved up a gear, with some farms even starting their campaign in February. As a result, consumption has been delayed. People are delighted to find asparagus at the beginning of spring, but by the end of May, they are fed up and ready for other products. Mother’s Day used to be a highlight of the asparagus campaign, but consumption is now sluggish at this time of year.”

Belgium and the Netherlands: Asparagus at unbeatable prices
This is a sad reality, and asparagus production starts earlier each year. “Last year, consumption was still dynamic at the end of May thanks to the rainy weather, which did not encourage people to make the transition to more summery products. This year, however, we have had a sunnier and warmer spring, so people no longer want to eat asparagus at the end of May. They want to switch to more summery products. The lack of consumption of French asparagus is exacerbated by the fact that Dutch and Belgian products are currently selling at the MIN market of Lomme at €2 [2.26 USD] per kg. This is part of their strategy. When the Belgian and Dutch production is high, they send their goods to foreign markets at rock-bottom prices to clean up their domestic market. This inevitably has an impact on French producers.”

The campaign might end prematurely
Faced with such a lack of consumption, the campaign might end prematurely. “We had the potential to harvest for another month, but we will have to cut the campaign short. There is no point in harvesting asparagus that we will not sell. We still have asparagus in cold storage, and harvesting labor is very expensive. We have already stopped harvesting 3 hectares to avoid throwing away any produce.”

Consumers seem keen to bring an end to the 2025 asparagus season, and this drop in consumption coincides with the end of the campaign in the major production areas in the south of France. However, production is far from over in other production areas. “There is still asparagus in the north, in Brittany, the Paris basin, and even in the Center region, and in Alsace too, although they have their own local market. There are not even any RNM quotations for our region anymore, even though there are still goods available. We get the impression that once the big production areas have finished their campaign, the season is over. But there are still a lot of small independent producers, and we feel left out in the cold, because for us, the asparagus season is not over yet.”

For more information:
Olivier Thomas and Françoise Thomas
La Ferme du Pont d’Achelles
Phone: +33(0)3 20 48 60 43
Laferme-dupontdachelles@orange.fr
https://www.lafermedupontdachelles.fr