The first months of the pandemic around the world left unpublished images, with ‘assaults’ on specific days to supermarkets. Cars full of basic and not so basic elements to face a period of which there was no exact knowledge of how long it would last.
In Spain, for example, images of people loaded with rolls of toilet paper.
This behavior, that of the compulsive purchase of a specific product is something that has been seen in other countries. In France, the star product during confinement was cheese, as indicated in an article in the specialized food magazine The steps.
But although the Gallic country has 246 types of cheese, a phrase made famous by former President Charles de Gaulle, the winner comes from Italy.
The increase in the purchase of mozarella was significant in the neighboring country, according to the data in this report, with an increase of 21.2% during the past 2020. Just behind is the raclette (12.2%), of Swiss origin and mainly used with delicatessens.
Further they stay the compté (8.2% and, this yes, of French origin) and emmental (7.8%). The French are fourth in Europe in annual cheese consumption, behind the Danes, Icelanders and Finns, with a average 26.4 kilos.
All the booming cheeses
Meanwhile, the French agency AgriMer points out that cheese sales increased in all its variants: a 9.4% cheeses made from cow’s milk, 32.2% organic goat cheeses and 5.5% organic sheep cheeses.
This strong increase in consumption for domestic use is offset by the drop in acquisition by restaurants, forced to close their doors during the hardest moments of confinement and in subsequent waves of the pandemic.
“The purchase of cheese by the French for consumption at home broke all records in 2020 due to the pandemic,” says the report.
Spending more time at home, they say, has enhanced the purchase of this versatile food “especially during the first confinement”.
Along with this, there has also been an increase in the sales of raclette machines, which are used to melt this type of cheese. A spokesperson for the Boulanger appliance store, which sells this accessory, confirms Le Figaro than sales increased by more than 200% in November.