Prince George Is Making Puy Lentils Fly Off The Shelves In England
The British royal family eats extremely well. The queen never travels anywhere without her favorite chocolate biscuit cake, and a slice of Kate Middleton and Prince William's wedding cake sold for $10,000. Now four-year-old Prince George is starting food trends, too, because French wholesalers are reporting a boom in Puy lentil sales after news came out that the little prince might eat them at school.
Last week, Prince George had his first day at his new school, Thomas's Battersea. It's an extremely fancy school, and Prince George's ultra-swanky lunch menu must be seen to be believed. Every day kids there eat things like poached haddock, beetroot and halloumi casserole, and smoked mackerel on a bed of Puy lentils.
That last item has sparked a run on Puy lentils in the U.K., because if Prince George is eating fancy French lentils, everyone else wants them too. Sabarot, French purveyor of Puy lentils since 1819, says it has been getting a lot more orders for Puy lentils since Prince George's school menu was published in U.K. newspaper The Daily Mail.
"It's the 'Star Effect,' whenever a VIP is associated with a product!" Sabrot head Antoine Wassner told L'Express. "Right away we got a lot of requests from customers in Great Britain after the Daily Mail article, especially from restaurateurs. The wholesalers are getting a lot of calls!"
People on Twitter had a lot of thoughts about Prince George's new food trend.
Sales of puy lentils have rocketed due to Prince George having them for lunch at school apparently... *rolls eyes forever* ;)
— Citizen JC (@Citizen_JC) September 14, 2017
'Prince George sparks new British food trend – lentils!' pic.twitter.com/7ddboE6hvb
— Alt-Rupert (@TheMurdochTimes) September 16, 2017
Look, Prince George may well have been served lentils for lunch but do we know he actually ate them? #grandmaintuition
— H (@countrymousie) September 15, 2017
Puy lentils have E.U. Protected Designation of Origin status, which means no lentil can legally be called Puy unless it is from Le Puy in the Auvergne region of France. The lentils have a peppery flavor, and are widely regarded as some of the best lentils in the world. Salads and side dishes are some of the best ways to prepare Puy lentils.
Prince George's lentils may be very fancy, but not everything the royals eat is quite that posh. Princes William and Harry used to forge their nanny's signature to order pizzas, and the queen is a big fan of Corn Flakes. Of course, the queen also counts Champagne as one of her 10 favorite drinks and has a glass every day, so the fanciness all balances out in the end.