🇫🇷 French cheeses

French cheeses are 58 protected EU names, more than any other country, and 1.9 million tonnes of cheese in 2024, second in the EU behind Germany with about 18%. From Comté to tiny Rigotte de Condrieu, they share a link to a particular place and milk. ¹⁵

Roquefort received the first designation of origin under a law of 1925. Today the EU's eAmbrosia register lists 47 French cheese PDOs (AOP in France) and 11 PGIs (IGP); 38 have been protected since 1996 and the newest, Mothais sur feuille, since 2025. In 2024, 202,503 tonnes of AOP cheese were sold for €2.43 billion: 17.7% of French cheese, leaving out processed cheese, fresh cheese and pasta filata. Each specification sets the area, the milk and often the cow breed, feed and minimum ageing. Why such strict rules: a traditional cheese's taste depends on feed, raw milk and its microflora, technique and ripening, so changing any of them gives a different cheese. ¹⁶¹⁶

The largest family is cooked pressed cheese, at 74,086 tonnes. Nearly all of it is Comté: 65,251 tonnes, about a third of all AOP cheese, aged at least 120 days. Beaufort ripens for at least 5 months. The second family is uncooked pressed cheese, at 58,249 tonnes: Reblochon (15,775 t), Saint-Nectaire (13,803 t), Cantal (10,840 t), Morbier (10,796 t) and Salers, aged from 3 months. ⁶⁸⁹¹⁰

Soft AOP cheeses came to 36,527 tonnes. Brie de Meaux and Camembert de Normandie have a white mould rind, while Époisses, Munster, Maroilles and Livarot have a washed rind. Minimum ageing here is much shorter: Brie de Meaux and Époisses ripen for at least 4 weeks, and Mont d'Or, kept in a spruce box, from 21 days. ^6111213

Blue cheeses account for 12,778 tonnes, among them Fourme d'Ambert and Bleu d'Auvergne. Roquefort (13,990 t) is made from raw sheep's milk and aged at least 90 days, partly in the Combalou caves. Goat's AOP cheeses are far smaller, only 6,442 tonnes; the largest include Sainte-Maure de Touraine and Rocamadour, while Selles-sur-Cher ripens from just 10 days. ⁶⁷¹⁴

Cow's milk makes up 86% of AOP cheese volume, sheep's milk 11% and goat's milk 3%. Raw milk is used for 76% of the volume, but only 28 cheeses require it. Farmhouse cheeses are 9.1%, and Salers, Chevrotin and Brousse du Rove are made only on farms; the last amounts to just 16 tonnes a year. The smallest names are of this kind: Rigotte de Condrieu yields 32 tonnes, against more than 65,000 for Comté. IGP cheeses are counted separately: 32,333 tonnes, all from cow's milk. The largest are Tomme de Savoie (5,987 t), Raclette de Savoie (3,372 t), Tomme des Pyrénées (3,138 t), Saint-Marcellin (2,757 t) and French Gruyère (2,737 t). ⁶

French or Italian cheese? Both lead the EU register: France holds 58 protected names, Italy 56. France makes more cheese, 1.9 million tonnes in 2024 against Italy's 1.4 million. French AOP cheeses fall into four families: cooked pressed such as Comté, uncooked pressed such as Reblochon and Cantal, soft with a white or washed rind, and blue such as Roquefort. Italy leans on hard grainy cheeses of the Po valley, sheep's pecorino and the pasta filata of the south.

Look for AOP (the French form of PDO) or IGP with the EU logo, and the full name, for example Comté or Brie de Meaux. «Au lait cru» on the label means raw milk and «fermier» means farmhouse. A cheese without a protected name follows its maker's own rules. You will find French cheeses at the cheese counter of a supermarket, at a specialist cheesemonger, at a market and at a delicatessen, where it is easier to ask about age and milk before you buy.

Why it matters to you. AOP cheeses make up 14% of cheese volume in shops but 22% of sales value. Look on the label for AOP or IGP and the method: «au lait cru» means raw milk and «fermier» means farmhouse. In French shops AOP cheeses cost an average of €18.54/kg against €11.60/kg for others, and 40% are sold over the counter, where it is easier to ask and choose. The NHS advises pregnant women to eat soft white-mould and blue cheeses only when thoroughly cooked. ⁶¹⁵