AIX-EN-PROVENCE (France), Dec 6 — The scent of marzipan fills the air in southern France as confectioners at a century-old factory prepare calissons, the famed Provençal sweets made from candied melon and crushed almonds.

Over the past decade, French producers have ramped up efforts to revive almond cultivation, allowing more makers of the traditional treat — first introduced in Provence under King René in the 15th century — to use locally grown nuts.

Provence, whose almond blossoms once inspired artists including Vincent van Gogh, was historically a major almond-growing region. But the sector collapsed after a devastating frost in 1956, and production continued to shrink through the mid-20th century.

While most of the world’s almonds are still grown in the United States, French producers are now trying to reclaim a foothold by marketing local almonds as a premium, environmentally friendly alternative.

“I bet — even without being Pierre Hermé, the best pastry chef in the world — that if you taste an American almond and then a Provence-grown almond, you’ll notice the difference immediately,” said Alexis Bertucat, communications director at Le Roy René, a confectionery maker based in Aix-en-Provence.

The company uses around 50 tonnes of locally grown almonds a year for its calissons and nougat.

When Le Roy René was acquired in 2014 by Olivier Baussan — founder of cosmetics retailer L’Occitane en Provence — the firm relied on almonds from the United States and Spain, Bertucat said. But the new owners quickly pushed to revive local cultivation, drawing on centuries-old regional traditions.

Bertucat credited Provençal farmers for growing almonds with a higher fat content, thanks to irrigation and soil-care methods that he said “treat the trees very lightly” and focus on creating “living soil”. When mixed with candied fruit and sugar, he said, the nuts produce a distinctive flavour.

Environmental and economic considerations were also part of the shift. “If we use almonds that are closer to home, we reduce our carbon footprint,” he said.

France currently has more than 2,700 hectares of almond trees, official figures show, producing around 1,200 tonnes of shelled almonds a year — far short of the roughly 50,000 tonnes the country imports annually.

Grower François Moulias said domestic harvests are rising but will still represent only a fraction of global production. “We would need 50,000 hectares of almond trees to cover our needs,” he said.

Moulias co-founded La Compagnie des Amandes in 2018 with former minister Arnaud Montebourg to support farmers in planting new almond orchards. The company now manages 230 hectares in southern France.

“With our more virtuous agricultural practices, we cannot achieve the same yields as the Americans,” he said, noting that French almonds require “five times less water” than those grown in California.

A new processing plant that opened in October supplies high-end pastry houses such as Ladurée, as well as supermarkets and the cosmetics industry.

Fabien Dauphin, a cherry producer who began planting almonds in 2011, said he is continuing a family tradition that ended when frost wiped out his great-grandfather’s orchards in 1956. Now president of the Provence almond growers’ union, he cultivates 22 hectares in the village of Cucuron.

Almonds make up half his income, with strong demand from online buyers and local markets. “It’s still a niche market. Our customers are often people with high purchasing power,” he said.

Dauphin is also considering expanding into pistachio farming, a crop still in its early stages in France. “They’re really two twin industries. We need the same equipment, and we have the same customers,” he said. — AFP