FRANCE/GERMANY – In 2002, over 130,000 tonnes of French cheese have been exported to Germany.

The news comes as Sopexa, the French food marketing agency, celebrates its 40 years of marketing French products in Germany. The dramatic increase in sales is particularly impressive considering that its funding from the French government is just 1% of its turnover.

Sopexa opened its first office in Germany in 1962. Then, the agency sold just 8,000 tonnes of French cheeses.

The organisation is a good example of how such groups can survive very well without excessive funding. Sopexa, the most important organisation for promoting French cheeses abroad, now has offices in 37 countries.

Popular French cheese types in Germany currently include traditional soft cheeses such as Camembert and Brie and the semi-hard Roquefort. Increasingly, less well known cheeses such as the Tomme de Sovoie slicing cheese have also been gaining in popularity.