Belgium braces for cheap, fleshy mussels

28 June 2004

BRUSSELS – The new crop of mussels from Zeeland, due to debut at Belgian supermarkets this week, will be fleshier and cheaper than last year’s batch, it was reported Monday.

“This start of the season seems set for a good start,” Geneviève Bruynseels, a spokeswoman for retailer Carrefour, told La Dernière Heure newspaper, explaining that there is some 24 percent more flesh on this year’s crop than last year.

Carrefour and affiliated Super BG and GB Express stores plan to start selling the new crop Tuesday at EUR 3.25 per kilo, while Delhaize shoppers will have to wait until the end of the week to satisfy their moules craving.

The start of mussels season always prompts healthy competition among retailers, who try to outdo one another to be the first to offer clients new mussels at the best prices.

Many stores will even dispatch spies to rival outlets to try to determine who has the best-looking molluscs and the best deals.

Subject : Belgian news