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France exports around half of its 1.6 million tons annual production of apples. The lion's share, some 20 percent, goes to the UK. So, in the event of a no-deal Brexit, France risks losing its biggest export market. Apple producers in the Loire Valley region, around 250km south-west of Paris, are nervous and sad at the prospect.
"Great Britain is special for our producers," says local apple grower Jean-Louis Moulon.
"We have a close relationship between buyer and seller, it's going to be quite deep, we're going to have a strong relationship with Britain anywhere else in France."
Moulon's farm, La Martinoise, is over in the Berry region near Bourges but today we're strolling through the 35 hectares of orchards at La Morinière, a testing center near Tours, which helps local growers and pear growers improve their crops.
The apple trees are in full bloom and, come harvesting time, around a third of the production – way above the national average – will find its way onto supermarket shelves and ultimately kids' lunch boxes in the UK.
Of course Britain has its own apple-growing tradition, but around 40 years ago Brits developped a sweet tooth and turned to France, and in particular the Loire Valley, for varieties they could not grow back home.
"The apples we export to the UK are quite sweet: Golden Delicious, Granny Smith, Gala and Pink Lady are the main varieties," Moulon explains. "We've got the right climatic conditions here in the Loire Valley: sun, heat, cool mornings." The UK has a history of growing more acidic apples like Cox's Orange Pippin, which is adapted to their climate and soil. used to eat apples from the Loire Valley! "
But for how much longer?
If the UK eventually crashes out of Europe with a deal, it will be at the very least complicate the export of shiny Granny Smiths and the Golden Delicious soaked across the Channel.
Moulon, who's also head of a local apple growers union, says the extra red tape at customs would lead to a doubling of the current 50 seconds it takes to get to the customs, leading to tens of kilometers of tailbacks.
"We will be doing business on the price, we will be doing business with you." 're going to have this out together, unfortunately. "
New markets
In 2015, France lost Algeria, one of its main apple export markets. When the drop in the price of oil led to an economic crisis, the North African country stopped importing French apples and focused on producing their own. France lost the Russian market in 2014 when the EU-Russia embargo was introduced over Ukraine.
Should apple exports to the UK, the surplus of French regional Chamber of Agriculture.
France has made recent efforts to boost exports to South America and parts of Asia. Around three years ago it is exporting certain "luxury" types to China and they are hopeful this will develop. But it will take time.
If you're not optimistic changing jobs
Moulon seems genuinely concerned over the prospect of a no-deal. "It's sad, for both sides," he says, "and we can not do anything about it."
But he prefers to remain optimistic that a solution will be found, or that the two countries will find new ways of working together. He points to the techniques The Moriniere has found to guard against late frosts that can devastate fruit blossom.
Fanny Le Berre, an engineer specializing in pest prevention at La Morinière, shows me big buckets filled with wax at the end of some rows of trees.
"When we are forecasting to drop below zero, we light these huge candles and turn on several big wind turbines."
The turbines waft the warm air around and raise the overall temperature in the orchard.
"We were out lighting candles during the night," says Le Berre, "it's quite effective in protecting the blossom against frost damage."
They also use a sprinkler system to irrigate the blossom.
"The water gives off heat and freezes the flowers," she explains. "It works the temperatures do not go below about minus 2 °."
"When you're an apple grower, if you're pessimistic, you should change jobs," says Moulon. "We have always known how to overcome adversity weather conditions, we have been working on the impact of frost in the orchards. for 40 years, you can not stop that overnight. "
Hughes Decombeceque, director of La Morinière, is more cautious.
"There's a lot of uncertainty, we do not know if we'll continue eating our apples, that's the question."
No one knows the answer.
The interviews in this article were originally recorded for use in the RFI podcast Spotlight on France.
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