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CRIME

French cheese heist: 700 blocks of Saint-Nectaire pilfered by thieves

Nearly 700 blocks of fine Saint-Nectaire cheese were stolen by thieves from a producer in central France.

Published: 10 January 2018 17:39 CET
French cheese heist: 700 blocks of Saint-Nectaire pilfered by thieves
Photo: Daieuxetdailleurs/Wikicommons
The fromage heist took place under the cover of night in the village of Beaune-le-Froid in the Auvergne. 
 
The Saint-Nectaire cheeses were being stored in the “rue des Caves” (Cellar Street) — the nickname of the street where a large number of cheese producers age their product — before the thieves made off with them late on Monday night. 
 
The losses are worth an estimated €10,000 to producer Caroline Borrel who heard nothing despite living close to her cellar.
 
According to Borrel, in an interview with France Bleu, it would have been impossible for one person to act alone, adding that she would now be equipped with an alarm and video-surveillance system to dissuade other burglars.
 
Local police are trying to sniff out the thieves. 
 
It’s not the first time French burglars have been tempted away from jewelry and expensive handbags and into the business of stealing cheese. 
 
Photo: AFP
 
 
In all they made off with around 100 wheels of the cheese, which can sell up to €40 a kilo for a particularly matured Comté.
 
Estimates at the time said the loot was worth anything from €40,000 upwards.
 
And it seems like delicacies such as French cheese are quickly rising to the top of the burglars’ wish lists, with thieves increasingly able to make easy money flogging knock-off fromage just like they can perfume.
 
And although the cheese theft sounds bizarre, in reality we shouldn’t be surprised.
 
A study carried out by the Centre for Retail Research in the UK concluded that the most stolen food product in the world was not Kobe beef or aged whisky, but cheese and found that 4 percent of all cheese produced was stolen.
 
At the time Dr. Joshua Bamfield, Director of the Center for Retail Research said cheese was “a lucrative business opportunity for small time criminals.” 
 
“It’s not just grannies saying, I need some cheese I’ll just go and steal it. A lot of the theft is for resale and a lot of this cheese will be resold into other markets or to restaurants,” he told the UK’s Huffington Post.
 
READ ALSO: 
Best Briehaviour: A guide to French cheese etiquette
Photo: Thomas Liasne/Les Filles à Fromage

PARIS 2024 OLYMPICS

No French fries but lots of lentils for Paris Olympic athletes

There will be no French fries but plenty of lentils on offer to athletes attending the Paris Olympics, with organisers unveiling a Games menu that combines eco-minded recipes with French gastronomy.

Published: 26 June 2024 08:54 CEST
No French fries but lots of lentils for Paris Olympic athletes

The 3,300-seat restaurant at the Paris Olympic village, which will welcome athletes next month, was given its first test-run on Tuesday by a hungry crowd of sports figures, officials and journalists.

Based in a vast former power station, the food hall includes six dining areas offering meals from around the globe, with half of the 50 dishes available each day being 100 percent vegetarian.

“People are going to meet here in France, with its culture, its heritage but also its gastronomy and so there are expectations,” chief Paris 2024 organiser Tony Estanguet told reporters.

Although many athletes would stick to their usual nutrition before competing, they will also be offered the chance to discover France’s famed food, with several Michelin-starred chefs taken on as advisers.

“We’ve allowed ourselves to put French gastronomy in pride of place so that curious athletes from around the world can try French culinary excellence,” Estanguet added.

The giant warm-food buffets will not include French fries, however.

McDonalds, a long-time Olympics sponsor, had its own fast-food restaurant in the Olympic village until the Rio Olympics in 2016, but athletes wanting a hit of junk food will have to look elsewhere.

“For technical reasons, we can’t offer fries,” said Estelle Lamotte, deputy director of village catering at food group Sodexo, told reporters.

She explained deep-fat fryers were not allowed in the temporary kitchens at the site, which is usually used as a film studio.

Gregoire Bechu, head of sustainable food at the Paris organising committee, stressed the quality of the ‘delicious’ lentil dahl recipe that has been developed for athletes.

“One of the major commitments by Paris 2024 was offering vegetarian meals in order to halve the carbon footprint of each meal on average,” he said. “We wanted vegetarian meals everywhere.”

At sports venues, 60 percent of food offered to fans will be vegetarian and the temporary stadium hosting skateboarding, BMX and breakdancing at the Place de la Concorde in central Paris will be entirely meat-free.

In a further bid to lower carbon emissions, only two of the six restaurant areas at the village will be air-conditioned, with the rest in outdoor courtyards sheltered by fabric sun shades and ventilated with overhead fans.

Tuesday’s test event, held under fierce sunshine and in 27C heat, saw some people visibly sweating.

“I think we’ve found a good compromise between offering the right temperature but also reducing our carbon emissions,” Estanguet said. “It’s one of the main challenges of the Paris 2024 edition.”

In a break from Olympic tradition, the 2,800 apartments at the village do not come with air-conditioning as standard.

But many Olympic teams have decided to install portable coolers at their own cost.

Paris has suffered a number of record heatwaves in recent years with temperatures peaking above 40C in July and August, but 2024 has so far been wet and cool.

The Paris Olympics run from July 26th to August 11th, followed by the Paralympics from August 28th to September 8th.

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