The rumpus in Europe over horsemeat sold as beef is bringing a bonanza for France's 700 surviving horse butchers, who are suddenly piquing consumer curiosity after years of decline, reports Reuters.
Non-stop media coverage has made eating horses a hot topic round office water coolers, boosting sales by up to 15 percent, the head of France's horse butchers' trade group said.
"It's true, there is a pick up in trade, we worked a bit more last week because our clients speak more freely about horsemeat now," said Eric Vigoureux of Interbev Equins.
"With the scandal, in offices and on the workplace everybody is talking about it, so those who normally buy it feel less guilty and recommend their butcher," Vigoureux, who is a working horse butcher near Bordeaux, southwestern France, said.
France's taste for horsemeat reputedly dates back to hungry 18th-century revolutionaries who ate the horses of toppled aristocrats. It flourished for two centuries, then fell out of fashion with a squeamish younger generation.
The horsemeat scandal began last month when tests in Ireland revealed some beef products also contained equine DNA and triggered product recalls across Europe.
Read more of this report from Reuters.