In 2006, the species, widely known as the Burgundy snail, was included in the EU directive on wild flora and fauna conservation and their gathering in the wild was limited.
Poland and Hungary used to lead the way in snail-gathering but economic progress since they joined the EU in 2004 has turned people off the hard work, causing a shortage in France last year, according to the French Federation of Preserved Food Industries.
Countries like Bulgaria, where agriculture accounts for between 5 percent and 6 percent of GDP, welcomed the chance to fill the gap: Recession, cheap imports and low farm prices have bankrupted hundreds of farmers this year.
People who once raised pigs, cows and poultry are looking for alternatives.
“Now everybody is a snail farmer,” Kostov said.
“Two years ago people laughed when we said we were breeding snails. But last year people simply went crazy. They are calling from everywhere to inquire,” he said.
Kostov said one person can easily care for a farm with three to five 0.1 hectare parks — essentially by making sure there is enough moisture in the evenings when snails feed — but help is needed for harvest, when women and children join in from dawn to dusk.
He plans to double production from next spring and increase the area given over to snails to 1.5 hectares, two times the size of a football stadium, from 0.4 hectares now.
This year Bulgaria, which transports most of its snails to plants in Greece for processing, is also starting to export a new variety of snails whose diet includes carrots as well as the traditional white clover and specialized fodder.
“They look very ridiculous, because they are orange,” Mollova said. But they fetch 80 euros per kilo.
Besides France, she said carotene escargots were headed to a Dubai hotel, but declined to give details.
In France, Bulgaria-reared escargots are praised for their good quality. Snail-processing company Romanzini, founded in 1921, has worked with Bulgarian snails since 1991 and imports up to 50 tonnes a year.
“The product is of good quality,” said Olivier Romanzini, adding that the Bulgarian escargots are as good as the French.
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