French borders are no longer hermetically-sealed, following last week’s decision by the Council of State. But travel options remain limited. For the majority of us, we will still have to wait to taste French escargots, magrets de canard, or – for the sweet tooth – Tagada strawberries. As a result, platforms selling French products in the U.S. have seen their traffic explode over the last year. Here is an overview of sites selling the products you miss the most.
Groceries
Founded in New York by Marianne Prébet, Simply Gourmand offers a catalogue supplied with groceries, with recipes included for each product. Hazelnut oil is a favorite in a cheesy green bean salad. Tarragon mustard will be perfect for coquilles Saint Jacques. The inventory of products is classic and high quality. Delivery is free for orders over $75.
Based in the Chicago area, Le Panier Français is another online grocery popular with nostalgics. The flavors of your childhood await you, from carambars to malabars to Tagada strawberries. Savory prepared foods, like soups and canned goods, are also on the menu. Delivery free over $65 ($59 for club members).
On their end, French Farm, based in Texas, deploys a multitude of seasonal products. Currently, everything revolves around the arrival of spring. Preserves, aromatic teas, and truffle honey. They have hundreds of premium products from each region of France. French Farm also offers culinary advice, and adapts their collections for annual events (Easter, Christmas). Elegant and refined at all times.
After kicking off primarily with fashion and home decor brands, the two founders of French Wink, Claire Obry and Myline Descamps, added grocery items after the arrival of the pandemic. Brioches Pasquier, Nestlé chocolate, and Teisseire syrup, of course (one of their best-sellers), they have found all of your favorites, for sale via their partner O’Cabanon, the grocery-restaurant well-known among New York’s French.
Yummy Bazaar is the only platform on this list not operated by French owners. This company specializes in products sold all over the world, classified by country. On the French end, you can find a wide range of products from favorite brands, like Saint Michel madeleines, or Faugier chestnut purée. They also offer a palette of Bénédicta sauces, organic flours, and wheat from chez Francine, for example. Delivery free over $59.
Meat, charcuterie, cheese…
D’Artagnan, the company of Ariane Daguin, the foie gras fanatic of the U.S., has been for a longtime the darling of restaurants and high-end groceries from New York to Los Angeles. Like others, the crisis pushed D’Artagnan from wholesale into retail. You can find a catalogue of all their poultry (chicken, guinea fowl, pheasant, duck…), but also meat imported from France. If you want to concoct sauerkraut or homemade cassoulet, this is the right address.
Cuisinery is another wholesale specialist converted to retail because of the crisis. Didier Amiel, the founder, supplied restaurants and hotels with quality products for 30 years under the brand White Toque. With the public health crisis and the temporary closure of the majority of his clients’ restaurants, he had to reinvent himself. Cuisinery offers meat and fish, but also prepared meals and desserts, delivered frozen, thus easy to store.
Based on the west coast, Fabrique Délices has, for more than 30 years, cooked traditional recipes, and now offers you artisanal products, notably pâtés like the pheasant terrine with figs and pistachios or the pâté de campagne with black pepper. They have also offered for a while now real Bayonne ham, and Toulouse sausages. Among the classics, you have confits, mousses de canard, Sauternes, or truffles.
For your cheese plates, the specialist without a doubt is IGourmet with a hundred varieties: Ambert, camembert, coulommiers, chabichou, but also cheese for fondue and raclette.
Fromages.com is based in France. The choices are impressive; the prices are competitive with those in France, but the transportation will add some extra costs to your bill.
Finally, for a different experience, the platform Bon Appétit Box will make you revisit French cuisine with their concept of a fully-prepared box. The client chooses between the Paris apéritif kit, in which there is a whole assortment of individually-packed treats, or the Provence box with the colors of the South as well as the gourmet coffee and its mignardises. The sacrosanct breakfast is centered around madeleines, honey of Provence, and seasonal fruit nectar, delivered to your door.
Also Read: What French Food Products Can I Bring through US Customs?
