Quality vino and gloriously stinky cheese have been at the heart of the French diet for generations.
But a new study has suggested that France may be losing its love for fromage, as an increasing number of locals are ditching cheeseboards for plainer flavours.
Though the French famously finished their meals with a final fromage course, the study reveals they are preferring to incorporate it bigger recipes, melting and grating it into pastas, sandwiches, and salads.
The French are well regarded as the biggest consumers of cheese in the world with each native munching through a whopping 27kg of cheese per person ever year – more than double what cheddar loving Brits manage.
Yet according to a study by the consultancy NielsenIQ, only 35 per cent of French folk still regularly chomp their way through a cheeseboard.
Quality vino and gloriously stinky cheese have been at the heart of the French diet for generations.
According to a study by the consultancy NielsenIQ, only 35 per cent of French folk still regularly chomp their way through a cheeseboard
Rather, cheese has become an ingredient instead of the centre piece in French dining.
The study found that there was an increase in the consumption of Emmental, which is more often used as an ingredient in salads or in sandwiches.
According the The Times, Emmental was the top selling cheese in France in 2023, with 156,562 tonnes sold across the nation.
It well outsold Camembert, which is usually regarded as the most popular cheese in France, with a comparably small 45,612 tonnes sold.
Camembert has previously been regarded as France’s third most popular cheese after other cheeseboard favourites: goats cheese and Comté, and is considered the most emblematic fromage according to seven out of 10 French people.
But figures from last year reveal France would sooner rather munch on mozzarella than their native cheese as the Italian pizza topper was the third most popular across France.
Last year, 43,356 tonnes were sold across the nation, reflecting a 50 per cent rise in sales for the foreign fromage.
As mozzarella has increasingly becoming part of the French diet, the nation’s own native cheese, including the likes of Fourme d’Ambert, Chevrotin, Langres, Munster, Chaource or Selles-sur-Cher.
The change in habit may be a benefit to locals in the future. Camembert and other sister cheese have been at risk of extinction for decades with concerns over the fungus used to make the cheese, penicillium camemberti, which is reportedly lacking in genetic diversity.
According the The Times , Emmental was the top selling cheese in France in 2023, with 156,562 tonnes sold across the nation
But figures from last year reveal France would sooner rather munch on mozzarella than their native cheese as the Italian pizza topper was the third most popular across France
The French cheese – which are usually enjoyed in one mouthful as scooped off a fromage filled board – have been outperformed by more versatile cheese such as Emmental and mozzarella, that are easier to incorporate as part of a bigger meal.
According to one gastro trade website, these previously popular choices have fallen by 8.5 per cent.
In 2014, 48.7 per cent of cheese consumed by the French was intended to be eaten on its own – likely on a salted cracker with a smattering of butter – but that number dropped to 42.4 per cent as recorded last year.
Meanwhile, the amount of cheese intended for cooking went from 39 per cent to 45.1 per cent over the same period.
It’s thought that the change reflects changing eating habits in France. The Times reported 42 per cent of French people spend less than 30 minutes cooking the family meal and 46 only spend that long eating it.
The shorter time focused on food means French locals means there is less time available to indulge in several course – meaning the cheeseboard gets shelved.
Earlier this year, French President Macron said that the French are spending less of their income on food than before, as they prioritise phone subscriptions, travel and lifestyle.
‘The problem we have in our country today is that the share of income that French people allocate to food has fallen over the last 30 years,’ he said
The reduction in spending likely explains why many natives are opting for cheaper supermarket varieties from Italy and Switzerland, rather than expensive local cheese.
Speaking to Euronews, owner of Parisian cheese shop Fromagerie Quatrehomme, Nathalie Quatrehomme, said: ‘I think traditionally you have a cheese plate after the main course and before dessert. This is the traditional way of having a cheese plate in France.
‘But I think this traditional way is evolving. Now you can have all cheese and meat course, you can have cheese in an appetiser and not after the main course. You can have cheese at breakfast. We really changed the way of eating cheese and that’s nice.’
And the change has sparked controversy across the European nation with cheese purists blaming a loss food culture and the rise of health crusaders trying to put a ban on unpasteurised fromage.
Meanwhile, those in the industry are hailing the adaptation to modern tastes.
It’s thought that the change reflects changing eating habits in France. The Times reported 42 per cent of French people spend less than 30 minutes cooking the family meal and 46 only spend that long eating it
Nicolas de Saint Pierre, the western European marketing director for the food group Savencia, told LSA: ‘Meals have got a lot simpler.
‘The context could have been damaging for cheese. But it’s adapted and is appreciated in a variety of ways, in the middle of the meal, as a culinary aid or as a snack.’
Véronique Richez-Lerouge, chairwoman of the Fromages et Terroir association and author of Les Labels Prise en Otage, told The Times: ‘There is a lack of knowledge and apart from young people brought up in gastronomic families there is also an industrialisation of taste.
‘Essentially tastes are becoming simpler and that means young people don’t want to have odorous soft rind or washed rind cheeses.’
The author said France needed more people like King Charles, who spoke out against the ban on unpaturised cheese in the 1990s following health concerns.
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