Within recent memory there were dozens of families making Persille de Tignes in this region of Savoie. Now Marmottan, 52, her husband and older brother are the last ones, making some 15,000kg a year.
“Little by little, the others got old and retired or decided it wasn’t financially worth it to them,” Marmottan said. “A farm has to be viable financially and the product we make has to interest people or we can’t in good faith continue. It’s too hard a job.”
In the past two decades, the number of small family farms has plummeted, falling by 14 percent between 2000 and 2004 alone, to just more than 100,000, an agriculture ministry study showed.
In 1979, France had some 20,000 fromageries, according to the National Federation of Milk Product Retailers. Today, there are about 3,300.
“Supermarkets have effectively squeezed out the small retailers,” said Androuet’s Blohorn. “Those who survived are really offering a superior product aimed at very discriminating consumers.”
At Au Bon Fromage, a Paris store, Persille de Tignes can retail for up to 25 euros (US$35) a kilo.
Marmottan follows a recipe passed down orally by her parents, who learned it from theirs. Marmottan taught it to her three children, but like many in the younger generation of the village and surrounding Alpine valleys, their interests appear to lie elsewhere.
The Marmottans’ eldest daughter is a lawyer, and the youngest is a member of France’s national ski team. Their son, 28-year-old Francis, is a ski instructor and maintains the farm’s equipment for half the year during the off-season.
So his mother has pinned her hopes on the next generation — Francis’ two-year-old boy and six-month-old girl.
“I say my prayers every day that they’ll turn into little cheesemakers,” said Marmottan, her face crinkling in a smile.
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