Serious Eats
France Is Facing a Snail Shortage
Escargot may soon be hard to find on French menus. France is facing a snail shortage, as French food processors report they are no longer obtaining a sufficient amount of snails from eastern Europe.
Part of the problem is that snail collecting is no longer as popular of a job in eastern European countries like Poland or Hungary—which supply two-thirds of all snails eaten in France—as better job opportunities crop up. The hot and dry summers of recent years have also been unfavorable for the French snail-farming industry. Consequently, the French market have been relying on more processed snails and foresee that bounty prices will be considerably higher for snail hunters.