The Agen prune, the fruit of the terroir, is born of a partnership between local producers and the processor.
Our experience as well as the skills of our employees acquired for many years allow us to offer high quality products.
This know-how has been adapted for other fruits.
The prune harvest
The harvest is from mid-August to mid-September when the plums reach maturity. They fall from a simple and light shaking of the tree in the orchards.
The pruniculturists follow the sugar level until the maturity of the fruit. It is at this point that the harvest can begin. This is the guarantee of a tasty prune.
Drying
Drying is the stage of transformation from plum to prune. Fresh plums are spread on wooden racks for oven drying for 24 hours at controlled temperature. When it comes out, the prune reaches an ideal humidity of 23% to ensure its conservation in fridge.
Sorting and tuning
After drying, the prunes are sorted by hand to keep only the prunes of quality. They are then stored in palox identified by producer for approval, phase of control of their conformity.
Calibration
Calibration is carried out from October to January. This is the operation of separation of the templates through grids allowing the fruits to pass from the smallest to the largest. The prunes are handed over in labeled palox for storage in cold rooms.
Rehydration
Throughout the year, we rehydrate the prune to restore its softness according to customer requirements.
The conditioning
We realize the packaging of our products ourselves within our production site of 10 000 m2. We proceed to the bagging or loose carton using our three lines.
The conversation
Two types of preservation exist for sachets and loose cartons:
- Pasteurization: the products are put on trays then in carts for a passage of a few hours in our drying rooms;
- Addition of preservative to the rehydration.
