Toulouse: at the Victor Hugo market, it’s the street for oysters, shrimps and scallops for Christmas
In the morning, he is one of the first to arrive at the Victor market. Christophe Leveau sells a ton of fish there every day. One month of a week of Christmas is the rush.
Two generously buttered toast, coffee, fruit juice then a few cigarettes, it’s breakfast break for Christophe Leveau, every morning, around 9 a.m., in a café, a stone’s throw from the Victor-Hugo market in Toulouse. The boss of the lodge “La marée Toulousaine” allows himself a well-deserved moment of respite, in the middle of his day which began shortly before 3 am, with the auction of his raw material, on the online markets of Noirmoutier, Sables d’Olones, Saint-Jean-de-Luz, Fecan …
Six days a week, he is one of the first traders to arrive in Victor Hugo, Christophe Leveau therefore sells fish there. Its stall, one of the largest, has more than 100 references, so it takes “between 2 am and 3 am every morning, depending on arrivals. We sell an average of one tonne of fish, ”he explains. Plastic boots, red apron and orange gloves “to protect themselves from the cold as much as from fish thorns”, Christophe Leveau orchestrates the release of hake, scallops, squid, barbet mullet, mackerel, sea bass, gray sea bream, prawns, langoustines, graves, black mullet, monkfish… This morning he was helped by 9 of his 15 employees.
A ton of prawns sold at Christmas
For him, the end of year celebrations are “a huge period, especially for scallops and oysters”. It’s very simple, in two days, on December 23 and 24, Christophe Leveau sells “a ton of shrimp and 1.2 tons of oysters, many of which are Gillardeau. With the scallops, these are the three flagship products ”. To deal with this gunshot, the whole team will hire at 4 am. “I always say that Christmas and New Years are the benefit of the year. If you were satisfied with your fishmonger, for the holidays, you come to his place without trying to understand, ”slips Christophe Leveau.
Present at Victo-Hugo for 15 years, he sells a lot of “small boat and line fish”. To avoid paying the high price during the holidays, he does not hesitate to encourage his customers to freeze on certain products. “For example, the bar is at 24.80 € per kilo today, it can go up to 50 € at Christmas. Or double! »A good listener …