Dear CrowdFarmers,

We would like to thank you once again for your putting your faith in us and for being true ambassadors of French olive oil!

2020 has really put us through it!

COVID and the March/April containment measures came while we were pruning the trees and we had to stop before we could finish. We weren’t closed during the confinement but we are extremely dependent on the godsend of tourism, which ended up being limited to France and our European neighbours. We are used to welcoming many visitors to the Mill.

In response to the significant drop in business, we also had to put some of our employees on short-time work. Fortunately, the resumption of activities at the beginning of June came with a bang! Even though it was very difficult for the foreign clientele – which represents 50% of our clients between June and August – to get to us because of travel restrictions, French tourists played along and came to our region en masse to enjoy the sun and discover our olive oils!

We were also able to count on you, CrowdFarmers, during the month of June thanks to your adoptions. We even had the chance to meet some of you at the estate this summer.

In recent months, our olive oils have had the chance to undergo a makeover with brand new labels: a real breath of fresh air has blown over the Bastide du Laval.

We still had even more bad luck with regard to this year’s harvest though! A series of heavy thunderstorms in late May, at the time of pollination, soaked the pollen and flowers, preventing fertilisation and fruit formation. Because of this, we have huge production gaps with certain fields and varieties.

Nevertheless, we were very happy to see the mill reopen its doors on Monday 19 October. A delicious smell of olive oil is now pervading the building: it’s a sign that the new cru is coming! Our olive harvest will start at the beginning of November. It is a period of high activity for us which requires us to recruit several people for the season.

Thank you to everyone for adopting the olive trees. We continue to pamper them every day to produce the best olive oil possible for you. It’s always a pleasure for us to receive your positive feedback, it helps give us motivation!

Whatever happens, the quality of the taste will always remain, and we hope you will enjoy the design of our new labels!

In the meantime, take good care of yourself and consume lots of olive oil!

Until next time,

Léo and the Bastide du Laval team