Prince George single-handedly boosts sales of Puy lentils
The Local France - [email protected]
Published: 12 Sep, 2017 CET.
Updated: Tue 12 Sep 2017 12:35 CET
Prince George has increased the sales of a humble pulse from France just by having it for lunch.
Prince George's first day at school certainly lived up to expectations in some ways, with a flurry of international press coverage that analysed everything from his 'stylish' teacher to what shoes he was wearing.
But there was also an unusual knock-on effect that even the most diligent royal correspondent couldn't have predicted.
When the Daily Mail published the words 'Puy lentils', which featured on the young price's lunch menu, the healthy green pulses, with their signature peppery flavour, started to fly off the shelves in the UK.
Considered to be best kind of lentil by many and hailing from Le Puy in the historical Auvergne region of central France, the protein rich lentils, which are distributed by Sabarot, a company that has specialised in pulses since 1819, were served up with smoked mackerel at the prince's upmarket school.
Puy lentils. Photo: Jessica Spengler/WikiCommons
As a result, wholesalers have received a large number of calls from people seeking to replicate the young royal's diet.
"It's the 'star effect' - as soon as a VIP is linked to a product!" enthused Antoine Wassner, head of Sabarot, to L'Express newspaper. "We've had high demand from clients in Britain since the Daily Mail article, notably from restaurants."
"Maybe the trend won't last on the other side of the Channel," Wassner continued. "But with the vogue for being vegan, we're hopeful...".
Sabarot already exports 10 percent of its production to Britain.
And there's good news for any lentil converts, there's certainly no shortage of them, with 3,000 tons of the trendy pulse harvested in 2016.
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Prince George's first day at school certainly lived up to expectations in some ways, with a flurry of international press coverage that analysed everything from his 'stylish' teacher to what shoes he was wearing.
But there was also an unusual knock-on effect that even the most diligent royal correspondent couldn't have predicted.
When the Daily Mail published the words 'Puy lentils', which featured on the young price's lunch menu, the healthy green pulses, with their signature peppery flavour, started to fly off the shelves in the UK.
Considered to be best kind of lentil by many and hailing from Le Puy in the historical Auvergne region of central France, the protein rich lentils, which are distributed by Sabarot, a company that has specialised in pulses since 1819, were served up with smoked mackerel at the prince's upmarket school.
Puy lentils. Photo: Jessica Spengler/WikiCommons
As a result, wholesalers have received a large number of calls from people seeking to replicate the young royal's diet.
"It's the 'star effect' - as soon as a VIP is linked to a product!" enthused Antoine Wassner, head of Sabarot, to L'Express newspaper. "We've had high demand from clients in Britain since the Daily Mail article, notably from restaurants."
"Maybe the trend won't last on the other side of the Channel," Wassner continued. "But with the vogue for being vegan, we're hopeful...".
Sabarot already exports 10 percent of its production to Britain.
And there's good news for any lentil converts, there's certainly no shortage of them, with 3,000 tons of the trendy pulse harvested in 2016.
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