Officially coming into force on March 20, 2025, spring brings with it a renewal of the senses, the promise of new flavors, and the discovery of the freshness of new products that herald longer, warmer days. This season is an opportunity to enhance your stalls by giving pride of place to spring fruits and vegetables.
When is spring officially declared? You might think of the first crocuses and daffodils, the soft green color of the buds and the first leaves on the trees. More scientifically, spring is decreed at the moment of the equinox, that is to say, on the date when the day and the night are exactly the same length. This generally occurs on March 20. But in a leap year, the official date may fall on the 19th or the 21st. In 2025, spring will officially begin on March 20th.


With the days getting longer and more sunshine, it is a prosperous time for fruit and vegetables. We are finally leaving winter behind with its more limited choice.


Various vegetables and fruits herald this season. In France, among vegetables, endives probably best symbolize the arrival of spring, as do the emblematic artichokes from Brittany. The beginning of spring also brings new carrots, cabbage, radishes, shallots and all kinds of salads back to the markets. In Germany, on the other hand, white asparagus, especially from the Rhineland, really marks the return of spring in people's minds. As do small potatoes with a still slightly firm texture. 'Amandine', 'Belle de Fontenay', 'Sirtema' are some of these early potatoes from France.


Still in France, you can also enjoy the delicate white asparagus of Gascony, like those offered by L'Armoire à Conserves on Gourmet Selection. As spring progresses, zucchini, cucumbers, spinach, and other peas are added...

fruits and vegetables
As for fruit, apples and pears are gradually giving way to fruits whose bright colors are a real awakening of the senses. It will be especially in mid-April that we let ourselves be carried away by childhood tastes with the first strawberries or rhubarb. June is the beginning of the heyday: cherries, raspberries, strawberries, redcurrants and the very first apricots.
(Photo by Susanne Jutzeler, suju-foto: https://www.pexels.com/fr-fr/photo/fleur-fraises-fruit-panier-4460472/). 

It is therefore the time to compose baskets of fruit or vegetables in pastel or bright colors. For delicatessens, you can also work on themes related to spring produce. So favor presentations of jams or syrups and juices made with seasonal fruits (wild strawberries, redcurrants or cherries, for example). Drink with your eyes closed the fruit juices of Maison Bissardon, strawberry, raspberry or apricot juices or nectars bottled just after picking. Or open a jar of Epicurien jams with Corsican pink grapefruits. Or spread a slice of fresh bread with this wonderful jam “Délice de fruits Carotte & Citron Coup de soleil”, created by the Nice-based confectioner Baiata, present in 2024 on Gourmet Selection.


Take up the theme of fresh vegetables by presenting mixed salads incorporating radishes, small spring tomatoes and carrots. At Gourmet Selection, the Saveurs de Normandie stand has a list of the best market gardeners. The awakening of the senses is also a feast for the eyes in spring. A rebirth after winter, so to speak. And this is celebrated on the stalls and in the windows of grocery stores by playing with colors. While waiting for the gourmet breaks at the exhibitors' stands


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SAINT PATRICK