French foie gras producers have long believed that the only threat to their global domination came from animal rights activists protesting about the force-feeding of ducks and geese.
Now they are facing competition from rivals in Bulgaria and Hungary which are starting to gain a foothold in the multimillion-euro market for the first time.
Gastronomes have actually been eating eastern European foie gras for years without knowing it because some French companies have been quietly buying it cheaply from other countries and repackaging it. But the truth is emerging and French specialists are worried that people will realise that the delicacy is every bit as good, and much cheaper, when it comes from eastern Europe.
The shift comes after a series of bird flu outbreaks in French duck and geese farms, with the result that the amount of foie gras produced in France is likely to fall from 19,200 tonnes in 2015 to less than 15,000 tonnes this year. Production was halted for three months when the H5N8 strain of the virus started to spread. A day before France was due to be given the all-clear this month the virus reappeared, prompting eight countries, including Japan, China and South Korea, to maintain a ban on French foie gras.
The outbreaks have opened up opportunities for companies such as Volex, Bulgaria’s biggest foie gras producer. The company’s core business involves the production of cheap foie gras that is packaged by French companies and sold in France. Most diners assume it is French and would be aghast if they discovered its true origin.
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Experts say Hungarians and Bulgarians have already made an extra €11 million this year by selling increased quantities to French diners.
Volex claims that gastronomes in countries such as Spain, Switzerland, Belgium, Thailand and Vietnam similarly ate Bulgarian foie gras only if it was sold under a French label to fool them into thinking that it was French. That is beginning to change and, for the first time, Volex is selling under its own name in these countries.