In her orchard in Sarthe, Lise Timmerman grabs a red apple.
“She's a Pink Lady.
It is picked from the end of October to mid-November but from the first picking, it will be stored in the fridge to be sold until May and June.
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Seven months between harvest and sale
Do the math: up to seven months will pass between harvest and sale!
“The apple season is all year round,” sums up the farmer who notably supplies mass distribution.
Large crates of fruit are transported from the rows of apple trees to the “station” (storage and packing area) of Timmerman Orchards.
“We keep 300 tons of apples in a cold room like this,” describes our interlocutor, pointing to the crates stacked up to the ceiling at a spectacular height.
The door is then closed and locked with bolts.
Why ?
The place would be unbreathable for a human.
“We put the apples under a controlled atmosphere, lowering the oxygen and CO2 levels in order to keep them as long as possible.
Without a cold room, the French should stop eating French apples in January.
This would threaten the economic health of the sector and the food sovereignty of the country, which would then have to import its fruits.
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High custody fees
But all this installation represents an expense: on average, between 7 to 10% of the cost price of an apple corresponds to its conservation.
“And with the energy price increases announced for 2023, this should increase to 25%.
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The repercussions on the environment are not negligible.
The specialized firm Glimpact agreed to calculate this “footprint” for the purposes of this report.
To find out more, click “play”!
