Roquefort President Visits the United States to Draw Attention to Cheese's Difficulties

By Kate Sander, Chief Editor, Cheese Market News

NEW YORK - As the United States wrangles with the European Union over beef hormones, Roquefort cheese and hundreds of sheep's milk producers in France continue to sit in the middle of it.

Erick Boutry, president of the Roquefort Cheese Confederation in France, visited the United States recently to generate support and media attention for the difficulties Roquefort cheesemakers and consumers face now that the United States has imposed a 100% tariff on Roquefort imports. (See related article)

"With the 100% tariffs, it will average $30 a pound on the shelf," Boutry says. "No one will buy it. No one will import it. In one month or two months, consumers won't be able to find Roquefort on store shelves," he says.

The fact that Joe Gellert, president, World's Best Cheese, is sponsoring the www.roquefortlovers.com website to draw attention to the plight helped convince Boutry to visit the United States. There has been a tremendous show of sympathy and support in France, Boutry says, and he wants to help development that movement in the United States as well.

Boutry is the CEO of Société de Caves, manufacturer of Société Roquefort cheese, part of the Lactalis Groupe. Société de Caves is the major manufacturer of Roquefort in France.

Philippe Surget, vice president, Lactalis USA, who joined Boutry for an interview with Cheese Market News, says the company is doing what it can on a political level to address the tariff situation.

The company also will do what it can to support consumer efforts to repeal the 100% tariffs on Roquefort - Boutry's visit is an example of this - but Surget notes that this effort can't come from the company alone. He says he is gratified by the initiative Gellert and consumers have taken.

"They will use the website for good old-fashioned lobbying," he says. Boutry and Surget express their frustration with the decision to include Roquefort among the products on which 100 percent duties are assessed. Because few will import the product with the duties in place, the United States isn't gaining financially from the sanctions, Surget says.

At the same time, the tariffs are affecting about 2,500 farms and ultimately 10,000 families made up of farmers, Roquefort plant employees and others associated with the production of the cheese in France.

The United States, while not a big export market for Roquefort, is still the third largest export market for the cheese, importing about 1 million pounds or 2% of Roquefort production each year. This may not seem like a lot, Boutry says, but losing the United States as a market, combined with the trickle down effect of more milk being available, will have a dramatic effect on the economy.

With the holiday season quickly approaching and the fact that Roquefort cheese production will begin again in a few months (a seasonal product, Roquefort is only produced in the first six months of the year), Boutry and Surget hope the trade barrier is lifted soon.

This article courtesy Cheese Market News. Other top stories from Cheese Market News this week:

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