This is the end of the reign of Camembert. Norman cheese has lost its number one place in the hearts of the French in favor of Italian mozzarella.
The French are unfaithful to their regional cheeses and therefore place an Italian cheese at the top of sales. The president of the Norman Union of Camemberts Manufacturers, Fabrice Collier, told the Figaro : “Since the beginning of the year and until September 11, we sold 29,230 tonnes of camemberts in France against 33,170 tonnes of mozzarella.”
Moreover, for several years, Camembert has seen its market share decline and its sales decrease by 3% per year on average. In 2010, the French consumed 3.5 camemberts each per year, or 55,000 tonnes per year. In the 1980s, the production of Camembert was twice as high as it is today and was around 180,000 tonnes per year.
Easy to cook, the acclaimed mozzarella
If mozzarella is gaining so much ground, it is because it can be cooked in all sauces. On pizza, one of the favorite dishes of the French, in a salad, alone, as a main course or as an aperitif, Italian cheese is everywhere.
Mozzarella is growing at an average of 5% per year and even saw a peak in sales in 2020. According to France AgriMer, the growth recorded by mozzarella that year was 21.2%.