French farm has €90,000 worth of escargot snails stolen

Thieves have stolen €90,000 (£79,000; $104,000) worth of snails from a farm in northern France that supplies gourmet restaurants.

L’Escargot Des Grands Crus in Bouzy, near Reims, said its entire stock of fresh and frozen snails had been taken away, a “real blow” ahead of the holiday season.

The France Info news website reported that the thieves stormed the farm on Monday night, cutting the border fence before storming the farm buildings, but a complaint was filed with police later in the week.

Officers are now on the road as the farm attempts to restock inventory to meet customer demand at the end of the year.

Edible snails – or snails – are a French delicacy, and are usually cooked in garlic butter or wine before being extracted from their shell.

Producers in France see a rise in sales around December, as people go to get this sweet during Christmas and New Year celebrations.

“This is definitely not the kind of post we thought we would be writing as the holidays approached,” L’Escargot Des Grands Crus wrote in a statement announcing the theft on Thursday.

She described the incident as “a shock, a lack of understanding, and a real blow to the entire team,” adding: “We are doing our best to replenish our stock to satisfy you during the holiday.”

The farm has supplied restaurants including Michelin-starred Les Crayères in Reims, as well as delicatessens and private clients, Franceinfo reports.

Photos of the farm after the theft show shelves and refrigerators almost completely devoid of snail products.

“An entire section of finished products was stolen from the store, and the stock of raw materials from my laboratory,” Jean-Mathieu Duvergne, the farm manager, told the news site.

It was my end-of-year inventory…we had just the right amount to get through the holiday without any worries.”