When Camembert went to war

This Kat continues her discussion on how wars affect geographical indications (GIs), this time, how World War I changed the history of camembert, one of the France’s most famous cheese, both for the good (the building of a broad-based reputation) and for the bad (laying the seeds for the ultimate genericization of the product name).

Camembert is a soft and creamy cheese, made from cow’s milk. According to a wide-spread story, camembert was invented in the outskirts of the Camembert village in the French Normandie in the 1790s by a cheesemaker, named Marie Halel, together with a local priest. The veracity of this story has been questioned, however, by historians.

Whatever of the exact details of its provenance, by the end of 19th century, camembert was being sold in Paris and abroad under the name of “camembert”. Attracted by camembert’s success, cheesemakers in Eastern and Central France started producing cheese under the designation “façon camembert”.

To combat such imitations of the Camembert-sourced cheese, the Syndicat des Fabricants du Véritable Camembert de Normandie [Syndicate of Manufacturers of Genuine Norman Camembert] was created in 1909. Inspired by the success of champagne producers, the Syndicate sought to register the name camembert as an appellation of origin (precursor of the modern-day GI) under the 1905 law against fraud prevention. Registration would enable the Syndicate to prohibit any cheese, which is produced outside of Normandy, from being called “camembert”.

Their efforts were, however, unsuccessful, as early 20th century French legislation was only protecting wines and spirits. The scholar Pierre Boisard describes how, in 1910, the Syndicate invited major political figures to celebrate the first anniversary of the Syndicate’s creation. When the guests noted the absence of camembert cheese on the table, the Syndicate’s chairman explained he did not want camembert to “look the politicians in the eye", as if it was "pleading" to grant an appellation of origin.

However, WW1 broke out in 1914 and, at least from the perspective of cheese, everything changed. Between the scarcity of milk and the mobilisation of manpower, cheesemakers across France were struggling to produce cheese. Against this background, the Syndicate saw the conditions created by the war as an opportunity to achieve its goal: obtaining an appellation of origin.

To this end, the Syndicate negotiated a contract with the War Ministry to supply the French troops with camembert. By doing so, producers of the cheese hoped to build a reputation among consumers outside of their traditional markets: Normandy and Paris.

Boisard’s research shows that the Syndicate had even planned to insert a small pamphlet in every box of cheese. This pamphlet would explain to French soldiers what an authentic camembert cheese is, and enhance recognition of the Syndicate’s seal. However, the French authorities did not permit this.

Even so, camembert became the part of the daily meal of some two million soldiers, and after the WW1 ended and soldiers came back home, they started demanding camembert cheese at local shops in their villages across France. In this way, camembert gradually garnered a nation-wide reputation, not the least because of its strong association with the war effort and the “poilus” (the French infantrymen), as witnessed by the packaging of the 1920s.

However, other French regions, such as Pays de Loire or Lorraine, also began producing their own “camembert” to meet the increasing demand. Still, without a protectable appellation of origin, the Syndicate could not prevent this from taking place. Foreign producers sought to free-ride on the war-driven popularity of camembert and the French post-war ban against food export. For instance, Danish cheesemakers started supplying “camembert” to England.

In the meantime, the Syndicate tried to register an appellation of origin through a new procedure, introduced by the 1919 law on appellations of origin. But ultimately, these efforts were to no avail. In 1926, the Orléans Court of Appeal declared the name “camembert” generic, thus ineligible to be an appellation of origin.

The Syndicate had ironically become a victim of its own success during the WW1. Only in 1983 did the producers manage to register “Camembert de Normandie” (Camembert from Normandy) as a GI. “Camembert”, however, remains a generic name for a soft and creamy cheese, as many a cheese lover can attest to.