Everyone has their own way of alerting them to the difficulties in their sector in the face of the coronavirus crisis. And that of cheese is also directly impacted. The blame for the decrease in points of sale (market, direct sale) and the difficulties of routing.
To try to educate consumers, some have chosen humor with "question for a cheese", a game launched during confinement in the form of a huge tasting on the internet to test their cheese knowledge.
>> LIVE - Coronavirus: follow the evolution of the situation Friday April 10
Where does mold traditionally come from inside blue cheese? How many PDOs (protected designation of origin) are there in France? To which family does the epoisses belong? These are the questions posed by two cheesemaker animators to the hundred Internet users gathered in front of their computers. And instead of the red buzzer, a cheese platter: Brillat-savarin, tome of sheep, maroilles ...
Buy cheeses, but not just any
The opportunity to follow a small vocabulary lesson and learn that the smell of Auvergne blue comes from that of the doors of clay cellars in which they are stored. But it is also a means of alerting to the difficulties of the sector, which is currently recording a 60% drop in sales. "You have to buy cheese," insists François Robin, the best worker in France.
CORONAVIRUS ESSENTIALS
> How long are healthy carriers contagious?
> What are the side effects of chloroquine?
> Adulterated tests, false calls for donations ...: watch out for scams linked to the coronavirus
> Reading, board games ... How to stimulate your brain during confinement?
> How to avoid gaining pounds during confinement?
But not just any. "I have nothing against long-life cheeses like Compté or Beaufort, but we can refine them a little longer. Those that are at the heart of the turmoil at the moment are ripening cheeses two or three weeks like Saint-Nectaire, fresh goats, Camembert de Normandie, or washed rind cheeses like Epoisses ".
Choosing your cheese can therefore become a civic act. "Patriotic cheese generally works well," confirms François Robin. The industry has even created a slogan: #fromagissons!