Illustration of the cider apple harvest at a producer in Bédée in Ille-et-Vilaine. - J. Gicquel / APEI / 20 Minutes

  • French cider producers will be able to transform 100,000 hectoliters of cider into bioenergy thanks to anaerobic digestion.
  • The profession has seen its sales fall with containment and must make room in its tanks for the new harvest.
  • For a time considered, distillation to make hydroalcoholic gel was abandoned due to the distance from production tools.

The cider industry suffered the brunt of the confinement episode imposed by the coronavirus epidemic. Already weighed down by an episode of frost last year, producers hoped to redo the cherry in 2020. But since March, the profession has seen its sales collapse, especially due to the closure of crêperies and restaurants. A blow for the treasuries but above all a source of concern for the coming harvest. Because unlike beer brewers, cider makers generally store their production in tanks. Three months before the apple harvest, the reserves are far too full, especially in Brittany and Normandy. Meeting on Monday, the interprofession therefore declared itself in favor of a major "clearance" operation. Financed by the State to the tune of five million euros, this transformation of the surpluses will a priori be made by anaerobic digestion and could therefore provide bioenergy: electricity, but also biofuel to fuel the tanks of cars. "Yec'hed mat" (health!), As the Bretons say.

"I have lost 80% of my turnover since confinement". Based in Surzur, in Morbihan, Didier Nicol has seen his cider house idle for three and a half months. “During the confinement, we maintained direct sales but very few people came. Cider was not seen as an essential commodity ”. The boss of the cider house Nicol estimates that he will have to eliminate "15 to 20% of the stocks" to make room for the 2020 harvest which promises to be "abundant and promising".

# COVID19 📉The Normandy cider industry shows an overall drop in turnover of 50%.
➡️La @RegionNormandie is working on a support plan with the Maison Cidricole de Normandie and IDAC to boost sales and encourage the sale of stocks. @SaveursDeNdie pic.twitter.com/BkV5YYGVTX

- Normandy Region (@RegionNormandie) June 26, 2020

He is not alone in this situation. “We end up with large stocks. And unlike wine, cider does not keep. It must be consumed during the year, ”adds the aptly named Nicolas Poirier, cider producer at the Gorvello distillery (Morbihan) and president of the Maison cidricole de Bretagne. With a still, he will use part of his apples to make a pommel, brandy or fine de Bretagne (a liqueur). Distillation has been considered by the profession, in particular to produce hydroalcoholic gel, but it encountered a major problem: “most of the distilleries are located in the South. And their agenda is already completed by the winegrowers, "explains Laurent Gillet, commercial director of the cider house Kerisac, based in Guenrouët, in Loire-Atlantique.

Methanize in the West, a greener choice

Monday, who is president of the National Union of Cider Processors went to Paris to gather the interprofession there. The latter validated the proposal of the Ministry of Agriculture to anaerobic digestion of 100,000 hectoliters in order to transform cider into bioenergy. “We can anaerobic digestion in Brittany and Normandy. We save on transportation and greatly limit our carbon footprint, ”added the union president.

The two western regions alone produce nearly 90% of French cider and many of their producers are waiting for this boost. Those who are interested in this transformation campaign will have to declare their losses and will be compensated up to 50 euros per hectolitre by the State, within the limit of 100,000 hectoliters at the national level. "Fifty euros pays for apples and labor," says Didier Nicol.

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  • Covid 19
  • Confinement
  • Coronavirus
  • Alcohol
  • Agriculture
  • Wine
  • Beer
  • Reindeer
  • Cider
  • Society