Salt-free diet – The rain has been pouring heavily on Loire-Atlantique this summer. Enough to ruin the salt harvest at the salt workers of Guérande, who fortunately have some stock in advance.
The summer of 2022 is a long time ago, when salt workers didn’t know where to turn, while drought and heat made the conditions ideal for harvesting salt. At the beginning of September 2024, the equipment is put away since the season has been over for several days already in the famous salt marshes of Guérande (Loire-Atlantique). In fact, one wonders if it has really started, due to gloomy weather that has greatly complicated things.
“We had a lot of rain all summer, which meant that the crystallization process never really took place,” explains a dejected Charlotte Le Feuvre, president of the Salines de Guérande cooperative. “We haven’t brought in all the salt yet, but the season will be catastrophic, that’s for sure. It’s the worst in forty years.”
Two tons vs 50 kg
The lack of sun and wind has prevented the 350 or so salt workers of Guérande from harvesting the famous white gold, which usually forms on the clay bottom of these rectangular basins, called oeillets. “Last year, we made around 1.8 tonnes from each of them,” recalls Charlotte Le Feuvre. This year, it depends on the location of course, but we’re going to be at 25 or 50 kg! C'(…) - 20minutes
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