My name is Loïc De La Taste, I'm 24, and I’ve been a farmer for 6 years. Ever since I was very little, I’ve always been at my father’s side on the farm. I loved nature from a very young age, so it was obvious for me to enter the world of agriculture and make the family farm sustainable. My father pushed me to go to school, to make sure I didn’t just choose this by default. I got my professional baccalaureate in nautical maintenance, but I didn’t hesitate for a second and came to work on the farm full-time to help my father with all the production-related tasks. Since I was 18, I’ve taken care of “bringing the fruit to the packing station”, as my relatives say to tease me. In reality, it’s a lot of work and includes maintaining the grounds, fences, trees, taking care of the fruit, and all the equipment the farm needs. I also manage our seasonal workers who come back every year, between 25 and 40 people depending on the time of year. I didn’t know my grandfather very well, but I do know that he is the source of the pleasure and the immense satisfaction that citrus growing gives my father and which he has passed on to me. When my father decided to transition to Organic Farming and leave the cooperative he used to work with, it was a real challenge and required a lot of courage from him, but we all supported him in these momentous decisions. Indeed, the gamble was worth it, as they say, because our farm, where the trees are cultivated by 100% organic farming methods, continues to grow and diversify. I’m extremely proud that, at my age, I’m cultivating healthy and tasty products while looking after the environment. I have a real love for the land, and it repays me so beautifully each season by giving us fine fruit that is bursting with vitamins and trace elements. My brothers have also naturally joined the family farm. Yoann, the eldest, came in 2012. He helped my father to develop the business and to create the Domaines De La Taste brand. That is what has enabled us to shed our anonymity and to become well known under the Domaines De La Taste label by selling both on the mainland and overseas. Anthony joined us later, in 2018. He handles the administrative side of the business. So the three of us manage the farm today. The roles have been reversed and now it’s our father who comes to the farm for fun and to greet the seasonal workers. My brothers, Yoann and Anthony, and I regularly set ourselves new challenges so as to carry on developing and diversifying the operation. Currently, we have a particular interest in exotic fruits. In 2020, we planted experimental crops of mangoes, passion fruits and lychees on 2 hectares of land, using 100% organic farming methods. Our aim is to test how compatible the Mediterranean climate and its different soils and areas are with encouraging these fruit varieties from elsewhere to grow and ripen naturally.

Our farm is located in Haute Corse, the national birthplace of the clementine. Nestling between the sea and the mountains, the Domaines De La Taste stretch over 110 hectares in the eastern plain of Pianiccia. This exceptional Corsican terroir has been producing sun-kissed fruit, bursting with vitamins, for more than 60 years. In 1964, my grandparents, Geneviève and Yves De La Taste, planted vines and the first plots of clementine trees on what was then only scrubland. When my father, Bertrand, joined the family farm in 1984, my grandfather and he decided to expand the property by investing in a second farm of 30 hectares. In the 90s, they started to restructure the plots. Vines were gradually abandoned so as to be able to diversify production by planting kiwis, plum trees and pomelos. In 2008, my father decided to embark on sustainable agriculture and Organic Farming. Since he sought to set up agricultural production systems that were more environmentally friendly, particularly by introducing micro-jet irrigation, the farm has reduced its environmental impact considerably. My father has always had a very strong bond with nature, so it was obvious to him that he should protect and respect it by gradually cutting down on the amount of artificial input and the use of pesticides. It was hard during the early years of conversion because the trees had to learn how to defend themselves against pests. Gradually, though, the trees stabilised, and the predators of the pests became established. Today, the output from our trees is regular, and the quality of our fruits has become far better compared to that of conventionally managed plots. We perform soil tests every year for all of our crops. This enables us to feed the trees with only the natural, slow-release organic fertilisers that they need. Our farm is surrounded by scrubland and a river. So no farm in the vicinity can contaminate our plots. To be able to better meet consumers’ expectations and to create a direct link with them, my father also decided to leave the cooperative with which he was working. This required a lot of human and material investment but allowed him to control production better, and “to grow his fruits and to raise them” as he had always wanted to. My father derives great pleasure from taking care of his trees, and it’s a pleasure that he has passed on to my brothers and to me. It’s now the turn of the third generation to take over the property. Indeed, my brothers, Anthony and Yoann, and I have resolved to perpetuate this precious family heritage, so that one day we can pass it on, in turn, to our children. My brothers and I recently planted avocado and mango trees, hoping to pioneer the cultivation of organic avocados and organic mangoes in Corsica. At the Domaines de la Taste, we practise 100% Organic Farming. We have joined our father in building up a brand, a “Made in Corsica” quality label. Our crops are irrigated with water for agriculture drawn from a dam 10km from the farm. Each tree needs 50 litres of water during the hot period. We use a drip irrigation system, with probes to monitor the water levels. On our farm, you will see grass between the trees. This is to promote diversity and help us to eliminate pests. Clementine production generates employment and therefore wealth on our splendid “Isle of Beauty”, Corsica. Seven permanent staff work with us on the farm, some have done so for 20 years. In the high season, we have about sixty seasonal workers who return to the farm. We pay them in accordance with the collective agreements. We have no harvest leftovers, since fruit that is too damaged to be sold is spread over our fields and feeds our precious clementine trees. The quality of our fruit and the method of harvesting it are in keeping with the specifications of the Protected Geographical Indication (PGI).