Based in the Pas-de-Calais department, SARL Acquette specializes in the production, packaging and marketing of onions, under the Ferme de l'Artois brand. The company has just started its harvest. Development manager Christophe Dekerle talks about the rainy season and the new grading machine that has enabled the company to double its output.
6 to 12 tons per hour
In the summer of 2023, SARL Acquette renewed its onion sorting unit with Maf Roda's Pomone solution, which enables multi-product grading with preview. Equipped with a GLOBALSCAN® 7 optical system, it provides both internal and external product analysis. "In practice, the machine measures all the characteristics of each onion and detects all external and internal defects, such as bacterial blight (except for internal sprouting)," explains Christophe Dekerle. This new installation enables the company to "segment production, justify the premium range with optimum quality," and save a lot of time. "Our old line was relatively obsolete. We are now more flexible, more efficient and more regular, and our products are more attractive because they are more homogeneous." As a result, the company went from 6 to 12 tons per hour. This is because the onions are no longer sorted by hand, except before packaging, at the final stage when "only one person is needed."
Productivity has increased, along with marketed volumes. Christophe is thankful for this new sorting unit, especially since 2023 had been characterized with "problems related to fusariosis and bacteriosis."
"Nature is not cooperating"
SARL Acquette has just started harvesting the short-day onions that will be marketed in early July, before moving on to bulbous winter and spring onions. Seedling onions, meanwhile, are expected in mid-August, as usual. This campaign is "late for everything apart from bulb and short-day onions." The incessant rain is responsible for this delay. "Mother Nature does not seem to want to cooperate. We planted almost a month late, and sowing finished at the beginning of May instead of mid-April. If the weather does not improve, physiological problems could arise due to poor bulb formation, but it is still early to make estimates. Everything will depend on the weather this autumn. The main risk for the moment is mildew, which is already starting to arrive on the plots."
For more information:
Acquette SARL – Ferme de l'Artois
11 Chemin des Anzacs,
62450 Bapaume, France
Phone: +33 3 21 07 00 36
[email protected]
[email protected]
fermedelartois.com