Sheep farmers break the mould as French lose their taste for Roquefort cheese

Cheeses in the caves of the Societe company, the largest of the seven Roquefort producers in Aveyron. © Bob Edme/AP

Roquefort, the famously potent "king of cheese", has long been a staple for sheep farmers in the department of Aveyron in southern France. But as French tastes change, farmers are looking into reviving lesser-known varieties using practices passed down from their parents and grandparents.

“A lot of people in the 1960s or 70s stopped their own cheese production to only produce milk for the industry,” explains Remi Seguin, a sheep farmer in the village of Blayac in eastern Aveyron, referring to Roquefort.