While luxury goods and tourist wallets tempt many, thieves in eastern France have made off with four tonnes of cheese.
On Monday morning a dairy in the town of Groux-les-Usiers discovered that one hundred large wheels of the local speciality, Comté, had disappeared overnight.
A matured Comté, which can take 36 months, might fetch €40 a kilo. The entire haul could be worth €40,000 or more.
The culprits had to cut through barbed wire and then crowbar open the door to the storage facility.
“We heard nothing,” André, who lives next door to the dairy, told L’Est Republicain. “The people who did this, they must know the area.”
French police report that several large vehicles have been stolen recently and these may have been used for transport.
The Franche-Comté region’s speciality has protected status having been awarded the Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée. Now it can be produced only in the region using milk only from Montbéliarde and Simmental breeds of cow.
Cheese was reported to be the most popular food product to steal, according to a 2011 study.
The Centre for Retail Research in the UK found that 4% of all cheese produced was stolen. The Centre’s director said cheese was "a lucrative business opportunity for small time criminals."
"A lot of the theft is for resale and a lot of this cheese will be resold into other markets or to restaurants," he said.
