From the orchard...

In an orchard, the plum trees are usually 6 to 7 meters apart. The harvest takes place between August 25th and September 25th. The ripe fruit are picked by shaking the plum tree manually or with a mechanical vibrator : the plums drop on huge stretched cloths. The quality of the prune lies with the ripeness of the plum.
Once picked the fruit are washed in fresh water before drying. The mechanical dehydrators used to produce prunes take 18 to 24 hours to do the drying, in order to reach the 21 to 22 % residual moisture rate which ensures an optimal preservation (in natural atmosphere or in above-zero cold).
The 65 producers united in the Union des Pruniculteurs de France (UPF) COUFIDOU bring their whole production to the corporation.

...to the processing.

Thanks to its savoir-faire, COUFIDOU handles the processing of the prune with 6 different products : <

  • Reconstituted Agen prunes : maximum of 35% moisture, with or without stones
  • Half-baked Agen prunes : maximum of 35% moisture for this speciality invented by COUFIDOU, which has the taste of the sun-dried prune of old
  • Supermoistened prunes : more than 35% moisture
  • Confectionery with Agen prune basis : chocolate coated prunes, prune sweets and specials...
  • Prune curd
  • Brandy prunes, prunes in syrup, in wine, prune juice, brandy fruit