Selling Polish snails to France
PR dla Zagranicy
Nick Hodge
24.07.2013 10:06
Close to fifty tonnes of snails were gathered this year in Poland's north eastern Podlaskie province, with the majority destined to reach French dinner tables.
wikipedia.com
An edible snail (Helix pomatia): photo - wikipedia
The wild Roman or Burgundy snail (Helix pomatia) is a protected species in Poland, but the Regional Directorate for Environmental Protection in Bialystok allows quotas of the molluscs to be gathered each year, from late April to the close of May.
This year, some 48.7 tonnes were gathered, compared with 42 tonnes in 2012, and 27 tonnes in 2011.
The limit for 2013 had been set at 120 tonnes.
With exports increasing, snail breeding itself has grown in Poland, with the number of farms growing across the country.
According to the Polish embassy in Paris, 95 percent of snails for French consumption are imported, and 9 percent of this amount comes from Poland.
Poland's Central Statistical Office (GUS) records that the country exported 282 tonnes of snails in 2011, with a value of about 1.1 million euros. Besides France, buyers in Spain and Italy are also importing Polish snails. (nh)
Source: TVP