will the French be deprived of foie gras at Christmas?

Foie gras could become scarce. At Laffite Foie Gras, in Dax (Landes), stocks have never been so low. “We have availability, but it is true that we still have stocks that are lower compared to previous years”, notes Marion Kara, saleswoman. With 30% less foie gras in 2022 on average, customers must anticipate. “I’m not going to wait. I think it’s a bit of a precautionary purchase, in a way”, says one of them. Prices are also on the rise.

The latest episode of bird flu has decimated farms. Usually, Mathieu Darribeau, a waterfowl breeder in Maurrin (Landes), receives 6,000 ducklings every six weeks. He received only a quarter of this this year. Since August 2021, 20 million ducks and poultry have been culled preventively. The situation has hit the entire industry hard. “They talk about a normal recovery [en] April 2023. For the end-of-year celebrations there will be foie gras, that’s for sure, but how much, no one can say”says the breeder.

The drop in production also affects processing workshops. A few kilometers away, the “Foie Gras de Chalosse” agricultural cooperative operates at 50% of its capacity. Added to this are prices rising by about 25%, the fault of inflation.