2023-07-16 04:00:06
Make the blueberry a flagship product of Sologne. In Ligny-le-Ribault, the company Blue B Technologies is currently carrying out his first big harvest of blueberries, on 30 hectares of shrubs planted, for some more than three years ago. Returning to his Solognote lands after a long experience abroad, the boss David-Alexandre Bertrant aims, with the “Myrtille de Sologne”, to replenish a French market which cannot meet demand today: 75% blueberries are imported.
In the “lab”, five hectares in the open air, various varieties of blueberries are tested, in order to determine which adapt best to the soil of Sologne. “This allows us to have varieties always more focused on the taste, to make our identity Myrtille de Sologne“explains Jean-Charles Feuillâtre, commercial manager of the company. “And then it allows us to stagger production, so that all the product doesn’t “fall” at the same time.“
Boxes ready to be sent for distribution © Radio France – Camille Huppenoire
The company claims natural pollination, thanks to beehives, no synthetic phytosanitary products and little water consumed. It must be said that the blueberry is content with little, even if it is fragile at the root level. “The soil here is very draining, which is good for this rot-prone plant. And the agreement with the acidity of the water allows the blueberry to grow“says Jean-Charles Feuillâtre.
Nearly 100 tonnes produced this year
Well helped by the sun, the harvest should approach 100 tons this year. Packaging, from small 125g trays to three-kilo boxes, is done a few steps from the lab. They are sold in supermarkets, on market stalls, to greengrocers. The product is also of interest to pastry chefs and chefs. “It is also a prestige product (…) perhaps in fruit, we are not as rich as other regions and there, it can allow the whole region to mark its identity“says Jean-Charles Feuillâtre, keeping the mystery of the name of these starred people who came to see the small purplish bay of Sologne.
The “lab”, five hectares to test various varieties of blueberries © Radio France – Camille Huppenoire
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