As if it weren’t enough that nutrition labelers want to mark some of France’s traditional cheeses unhealthy, now comes the news that France’s top-selling cheese, Camembert, has fallen behind mozzarella from Italy as the top-selling cheese.
In third-quarter market results last week it turned out that 33,170 tons of mozzarella had been sold in France, compared to 29,230 tons of Camembert (can you even imagine a ton of Camembert?), the first time a foreign cheese has taken the lead. Camembert sales have been dropping 3% a year while sales of mozzarella have been rising at a 5% annual rate.
And while some have responded that it doesn’t really count because “Camembert is more for the cheese platter while mozzarella is used for cooking,” especially for pizza, a group of traditionalists say that’s not the reason.
The SNFC, or Syndicat des fabricants du véritable camembert de Normandie, an association of traditional cheesemakers with AOC status, puts the blame squarely on industrial dairies that produce 90% of the Camembert cheese, although without the Syndicat’s seal or the right to use the word Normandy in their labels and ads.
SNFC members accuse them of ruining the cheese’s reputation by using double-pasteurized milk and other high-volume processes. One told The Telegraph (UK) “This is the logical result of a regular drop in quality since the 1970s and 80s… Our sales are very healthy and have in fact gone up,” he said “But when it comes to pasteurised camembert, the consumer realises that the pleasure is no longer the same. When you buy camembert that has the right shape but not the old taste, you get disappointed customers.”
