“With this year’s autumn weather from August onwards, squash was planted earlier than usual in France, and the demand has been strong from the start.” Within the range, pumpkins remain the number one choice, closely followed by the butternut, which continues to grow.
Brahim El Hasnaoui, sales manager of Fleuron d'Anjou, attributes this growth mainly to the growing consumer demand, as well as to the ease of producing squash. Just a few years ago, pumpkin volumes were higher than butternut volumes while today, they are almost identical.” But it is also “a product with almost no waste,” which appeals to consumers who are increasingly concerned about waste and want value for their money in the current inflationary context.”
Pressure from distributors for small sizes and low prices
Much like other products, squash is not immune to the rise in production costs, but with an additional difficulty. Harvested as early as August, the squash season “does not actually start until mid-October and lasts all winter, so it needs to be stored for several months.” Another challenge has to do with this year’s larger sizes. While small calibers “are usually discarded in the field, supermarkets are keen to use them this year in order to meet consumer demand.”
