Premium jams deserve the best fruit

Andrésy Confitures is very picky about the fruit used to make its premium jams. The company will only use products that have been harvested at peak maturity and are gorged with the richness of the earth, tradition and farming methods that respect both nature and men.  And whatever the vagaries of the weather, every year it meets the challenge of offering its customers the unflagging quality they expect.

Andrésy Confitures uses nearly 100 different types of fruit, and sometimes several different varieties of each, to make its jams. Between 70% and 80% of the fruit harvest comes from France’s fruit-growing regions: the rhubarb comes from the North of France, the apricots from Roussillon, the figs from Provence and the clementines from Corsica, for example.

Anticipating weather conditions to meet customers’ requirements

“This summer, the blackcurrant harvest was two to three weeks earlier than usual,” explained Julia Cassan, who is in charge of product quality, fruit purchases and recipe development at Andrésy Confitures. “The good news is that the buds weren’t affected by the late frosts in the South, since our business is completely dependent on the cycle of seasons and climatic conditions.”

The company’s main concern is to have the best fruit each year for its ranges of jams and the bespoke recipes it produces in collaboration with top chefs. The trickiest period is when the fruit trees are in bloom, because growers need to anticipate the consequences of bad weather and other hazards that might affect harvests. Julia Cassan knows the growers well and regularly goes to see them to talk about their problems (such as hail or insects).

When fruit is in short supply – and unless the fruit appellations contain the name of the region – Andrésy Confitures looks for additional sources from other producers who meet its quality criteria.

Fruit harvested at its prime for the best premium jams

To make its premium jams, Andrésy Confitures mostly chooses fruit that have some sort of protected status, such as a protected designation of origin (PDO) or a protected geographical indication (PGI), or come from quality production regions that are not yet officially certified. They have inherited the geological and climatic properties of their native soil, its agricultural traditions and its history, and are produced using methods that respect both nature and people.

Each year, the fruit is selected when it is “harvest-ready”, i.e. at the peak of maturity. It is frozen on site the same day to retain all of the sweetness and full-bodied flavour, just like fruit intended to be eaten fresh.

Delivering excellence, year after year

A network of regional partners forms the bridge between Andrésy Confitures and its growers. It is their role to oversee the quality, security and traceability of the products. They make sure that the fruit lives up to Andrésy Confitures’ strict criteria regarding variety, place of harvest, size, treatment, colour, sugar content, maturity or packing, etc.