European foie gras producers feed new markets

Every Christmas, foie gras producers in Bulgaria and Hungary are overwhelmed with overseas orders, but while France remains their key client, the hunt for more lucrative markets is leading to Asia.

France is the top producer and consumer of the controversial delicacy. Foie gras is fundamental to a traditional Gallic Christmas dinner and France has made a habit of stocking up its own inventories with cheaper versions from Bulgaria and Hungary.

At Bulgaria's largest factory near the southern village of Milevo, dozens of women nimbly sort, clean and pack hundreds of kilograms of duck livers that have come straight from the slaughterhouse.