European foie gras producers feed new markets

Every Christmas, foie gras producers in Bulgaria and Hungary are overwhelmed with overseas orders, but while France remains their key client, the hunt for more lucrative markets is leading to Asia.

France is the top producer and consumer of the controversial delicacy. Foie gras is fundamental to a traditional Gallic Christmas dinner and France has made a habit of stocking up its own inventories with cheaper versions from Bulgaria and Hungary.

At Bulgaria's largest factory near the southern village of Milevo, dozens of women nimbly sort, clean and pack hundreds of kilograms of duck livers that have come straight from the slaughterhouse.

Other workers cook and can glazed duck confit.

Virtually unknown at local Christmas dinner tables, the bulk of Volex's production will go to France.

This year, Bulgaria and Hungary estimate that sales in newer markets could shoot up by around 15 percent as French exports outside the EU have been hit by repeated bird flu scares.

"If 10 years ago we sold 100 percent of our produce to France, now this share is about 80 percent," said Volex factory owner Plamen Chelebiev.

For the past four years, his sales have been increasing in Switzerland and Japan, and more recently also in Vietnam and Thailand.

"In these markets we sell our products under our own brand names and at much higher prices, which makes it more interesting for us," Chelebiev said.

But Volex is also doing well inside the EU.

In Spain and Belgium, "we're now selling our products without passing via France," Chelebiev added.

But all this notwithstanding, neither Bulgaria nor Hungary have the capacity to conquer traditional French markets.

In 2015, France produced around 19,000 tons of foie gras, while Bulgaria came a distant second with 2,500 tons and Hungary third with 2,000 tons.

So eyes are now focused on the burgeoning appetite for luxury products in Asia.

"We have expanded our presence in Japan and also started recently to sell in Singapore and Thailand," said a Hungarian producer, requesting anonymity.

"They cannot match demand by solely buying from France."

(China Daily USA 12/22/2016 page10)