In the Pyrénées-Orientales, the big deal is fruit: peaches, apricots… Part of the department’s agricultural wealth was built on peach orchards, until plum pox got involved. This disease which condemns the trees, in addition to erratic markets, has forced producers to think about diversification. The apricot of course, the pomegranate, the walnuts, the artichokes and… the almond. If there have always been almond trees in the landscape of the Pyrénées-Orientales – they are easily noticed, they are the first to flower at the end of January -, the development of specialized orchards is recent. “Today, we have about 160 hectares of almond trees,” explains Jean-Pierre Bails, president of the La Melba cooperative in Bouleternère, about thirty kilometers from Perpignan.
But before planting, you have to be sure to sell the production. For this, the cooperative has equipped itself with a sorting machine for the harvest and a small almond-breaking machine which it has installed a few kilometers away. The almonds thus produced in the Pyrénées-Orientales have three destinations. They are sold green for a little less than 10%, in shell for 40%, broken for confectionery and chocolate makers, but also in the form of cream. “It’s an idea that came to us from the United States,” explains Jean-Pierre Bails, “we transform the almonds into cream that can allow you, for example, to make your own almond milk at home. »
To embark on this project, the cooperative had to get out of its comfort zone and touch on areas that it did not necessarily master. Thus, the Mandaya brand was created thanks to a crowdfunding campaign for example. Successful campaign last year with 1,600 orders for launch. “It’s true that we had to learn a new job, we had to approach social networks, something we don’t do for peaches or apricots, have a press officer in Paris”, he admits. . Since then, the brand has had its own website and customers can order directly from the cooperative.
“The remuneration offered by the former minister is not up to par”
And what does he think of the arrival of the former minister and presidential candidate? “We had met him a few years ago, he had already come to test the waters. What he proposes is a bit like a form of modern sharecropping since he finances part of the plantation and recovers part of the harvest. The only difference is that he is smart, he knows how to find financing everywhere, recovers the carbon bonuses for the planting of orchards in creation while we do not touch them because we are converting peach orchards” lists he.
“But above all, scoffs another arborist from the department, the remuneration he offers is not up to what an arborist who knows how to work can get with another species of fruit! » Not sure that the Almond Company (chaired by Arnaud Montebourg, it wants to structure an almond sector made in France with local varieties and short circuits) do great business in the Pyrénées-Orientales!