An unexpected initiative in the Pyrénées-Orientales: at Plantations d’Acapella, a premium tea 100% made in Occitanie

Jean-Marc Sanchez a imaginé, dans les Pyrénées-Orientales, un thé premium d’Occitanie. Midi Libre – MICHAEL ESDOURRUBAILH

An agronomist, Jean-Marc Sanchez launched unexpected plantations in Saint-Cyprien, in the Pyrénées-Orientales, 4 years ago. It targets production « between 200 and 300 kg » This year.

Tea planted at the foot of the Côte des Albères, on the vast plains which outline the commune of Saint-Cyprien, in the Pyrénées-Orientales. It was not only necessary to think about it, but, above all, to dare. Jean-Marc Sanchez did it.

An agricultural engineer by training, this Catalan by origin, who studied at the Purpan engineering school in Toulouse, set himself an improbable challenge: growing tea in the Pyrénées-Orientales. And he not only took up this challenge, but he succeeded, with Les Plantations d’Acapella, his company created in 2021.

"19 different varieties of tea"

"There are 19 different varieties of tea there", he says, scanning the long, straight rows of plants growing on the 4 hectares of land set up under a huge photovoltaic greenhouse.

Today, his tea green, black and white tea are sold in several specialist shops. It is also found on the menu of the Michelin-starred restaurant La Balette in Collioure.

“A tea grown in a greenhouse is sweet”

It was while traveling the world giving his advice as an agricultural engineer that Jean-Marc Sanchez, 51, had a crazy idea: why not plant tea and coffee in the region ?

“You just have to evaluate the agronomic parameters for this type of crop, he explains. To achieve this, you just have to recreate an atmosphere, with the greenhouse, to recreate an ecosystem. Agronomically, we know how to do this, we can do it".
His "model" is, as he himself describes it, "unprecedented".

A detached chain in Shanghai

“Unprecedented in its location, in the Pyrénées-Orientales, in its size, with more than 30,000 tea plants, and unique in its greenhouse plantations”. He was clearly right, since the black tea from Plantations d’Acapella won the silver medal last spring at a major professional event held in Shanghai, China.

That's saying something. Last year, it was at a similar event, held in Japan and dedicated to tea, that the brand won a medal. “A tea grown in a greenhouse produces a special, very mild tea. The plant is not stressed.

He developed an "electronic nose"

Camped in a desire to cultivate in compliance with the rules of organic farming, he must be careful not to stray from the rules. “From the start, I chose to move towards a premium tea strategy”, insists Jean-Marc Sanchez.

To do this, he took up the codes of oenology, a field he frequented in a previous professional life, working in particular on sensory analysis, by developing an “electronic nose”.

“I was facing two challenges”

This means “the importance of origin, terroir, fermentation and tasting methods”, as recalled by Ad’Occ, the economic development agency of the Occitanie Region, which supported him in his early days.

A culture that is increasingly French

In a note published last May by the assembly of the Chambers of Agriculture of France, the latter recalled a rather unusual observation: more and more tea is being grown in France. &At the initiative of innovative farmers. "France produces 1,500 tons of tea per year", it is specified. The plantations are “scattered” across the national territory, in Brittany, in the Landes, in Normandy, and therefore in Occitania. "The tea plant truly comes into production between the third and fifth year. The investment is also significant, around 50,000 euros per hectare". It is by relying on this interest of the French that David Macq launched more than 5 years ago a tea plantation à Saint-Ambroix, in the Gard. He took over the Bruguerolle farm and developed a production of pure teas under the Th&eacute brand. of the Cévennes. "I harvest small à small, I think I will harvest between 2 and 3 kilograms", he specifies.

"I’was faced with two challenges, insists the planter. The first was to be able to grow quality plants. The second is to maintain good marketing with the increase in production". Last year, his plantations produced 50 kg of tea. This year he is aiming for "between 200 and 300 kg".

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