In the Seine-et-Marne département east of Paris, cattle used to have one overriding goal — to provide milk for the area’s most renowned product, Brie de Meaux cheese.
This is not the case today. In a move that dumbfounded traditionalists, three local women — Pauline Benoist, Emmanuelle Antoine and Alexandra Meheut — diverted a small proportion of the area’s milk into an ice cream making business.
With farming incomes falling, the band of farming entrepreneurs believe there is no point relying on crops and livestock alone to keep the wolf from the door. They decided to launch a range of ice creams that include brie cheese, mustard and beer flavours, along with more standard offerings like vanilla.
The innovative farmers have won local approval for their Brie, mustard and beer flavour ice creams
TEDDY HENIN
Benoist’s in-laws, who have farmed in the area