More than US$100,000 worth of escargots stolen from French snail farmer with Michelin clientele

More than US$100,000 worth of escargots were stolen from a French snail farmer earlier this week, French media reported, leaving the supplier scrambling to replenish its stock in time for the holiday season. (Credit: Alexander Spatari/Getty Images/File via CNN Newsource)

More than US$100,000 worth of escargots were stolen from a French snail farmer earlier this week, French media reported, leaving the supplier scrambling to replenish its stock in time for the holiday season.

“This is really not the post that we thought we would write approaching the holidays,” L’Escargot Des Grands Crus wrote in a post on Facebook Tuesday. “We were victims of a burglary and our stock of fresh and frozen snails was stolen.”

A family business, L’Escargot Des Grands Crus breeds around 350,000 snails annually, preparing the escargots “with the greatest care,” according to its website.

The snail theft is “a shock, incomprehensible and a real blow for all of the team,” the farm, which is based in Bouzy, northeastern France, said on Facebook.

Overnight from Sunday into Monday, thieves entered the farm undetected and broke into the buildings housing the snails, French public broadcaster France Info reported. The fence surrounding the property had been cut, it said.

Once inside, the thieves were met with shelves “full of snails: in jars, fresh, frozen,” Jean-Mathieu Dauvergne, the owner of the farm told France Info. Images from after the theft showed refrigerators almost totally empty.

But some of the stock taken was not prepared for consumption, the outlet reported. The shells of the snails were not cleaned, and the butter that accompanies the escargot was not made.

“You can’t consume it directly,” Dauvergne said.

In total, the thieves stole nearly 450 kilograms (roughly 990lbs) of snails, France Info reported.

L’Escargot Des Grands Crus will try to replenish its stocks before Christmas and New Year’s Eve, given that 60 per cent of its annual revenue is made during this period according to the outlet.

Dauvergne has been able to supply snails to some restaurants - including some of his Michelin-starred clientele - since the theft, France Info reported.

Other snail farmers have stepped in to sell Dauvergne some of their stock at reduced prices, the outlet said.

“We’re ready to help him quickly for him to be able to save his season,” Alexandre Maire, another snail farmer from the Vosges, told France Info.