Camembert 'in disgrace'

Camembert consumption is falling fast

By the BBC's James Coomarasamy in Paris

One of France's strongest culinary symbols could be in decline.

Sales of Camembert cheese have fallen by around 20% in 12 years.

Cheese producers blame a change in lifestyle, saying many people no longer have time to enjoy Camembert properly.

The cheese invented by a peasant during the French Revolution is in disgrace

Le Monde

White, round and pungent - the sight and smell of a ripe Camembert symbolizes France's love of the good culinary life.

But figures just published here show the French are eating significantly less of the celebrated Normandy cheese.

Researchers have found that in the past decade, annual Camembert consumption has fallen by 20,000 tonnes.

The holy trinity: Sales are falling

Such statistic prompted Le Monde newspaper to say the cheese that was invented by a peasant during the French Revolution was in disgrace.

The runny genuine article is losing out to pasteurised Camembert-lite imitations as well as to other harder cheeses such as Emmenthal.

It seems that a new generation of sandwich-munching French prefer hard cheese they can eat on the move rather than softer varieties, which need to be savoured as part of a leisurely lunch.

In a country where there's been a slump in sales of bread, wine and cheese - the elements of what the French call the holy trinity - it is a sacrilegious turn of events.