It's become something of a craze': influencers spread news of healthy French cheese

Cancoillotte is being rapidly potted, packaged, and shipped from cheesemakers in Franois, eastern France, after a sudden rise in demand. Freezer storage is nearly empty, reflecting an unprecedented supply strain for a cheese that was previously little known outside Franche-Comte. The cheese has become popular among fitness enthusiasts and social media influencers because it is low in fat, high in protein, and relatively cheap. Sales had grown slowly over seven years, but influencer attention triggered a major boom. Producers say they were caught off guard and could not make as much as usual during a period that included May bank holidays, creating a shortfall that they are now working to recover.

"At the cheesemakers in the village of Franois, eastern France, a stream of what looks like runny, beige gloop is being potted, packaged and dispatched for delivery as fast as it can be made. The freezer room, normally piled high with pallets of the product, is almost empty. For what must be the first time in the history of cancoillotte a cheese product that until recently was little known outside the eastern Franche-Comte there was talk of a rupture in supplies, and an unprecedented shortage."

"Unlike most cheeses, cancoillotte is low in fat, high in protein, cheap and until recently something of a niche product outside the Franche-Comte, the region flanking France's border with Switzerland. In just a few weeks, word has spread about cancoillotte pronounced con-qwy-yotte among those who want to have their cheese and eat it without melting toned muscles or sending cholesterol soaring."

"There's been a slow progression in sales of cancoillotte over the last seven years, but the influencers have produced a big boom, which we didn't expect, said Morin during a tour of the fromagerie established almost 150 years ago. What with all the new enthusiasm for the cheese and the May bank holidays we couldn't produce as much as usual so we had a bit of a shortfall, but we're making it up."

"Until now, it has been a product that was difficult to advertise. So we are"

Read at www.theguardian.com