Marseille's cheese shops

Carine Kaloudjian set up Fromagerie Kalou in 2015. She designed this shop in her own image: friendly and convivial, a place where people enjoy living and where the residents of the Saint-Giniez district like to meet up.
Committed to a constant quest for quality, always ready to offer good advice and a genuine respect for the product, she and her team act as a link between producers and consumers. Thanks to this strong commitment, Fromagerie Kalou has been awarded the Gault & Millau label since 2017. All the cheeses selected meet precise criteria.

Madeleine and Audrey offer organic, local and animal-friendly products made from raw milk in their Laiterie Marseillaise on Rue Sainte. Cheeses, yoghurts, butter and milk, all the products have exceptional flavours, because the milk at the base is alive unlike pasteurised milk. Each cheese is unique and created by Madeleine and Audrey. They produce according to seasonality and take part in respecting the environment by using returnable glass jars for yoghurts and by having very little packaging. They also offer mozzarella and burrata production workshops, to better understand the cheese-making profession and the creation of products.

The blue-fronted cheese shop Chez Lucienne delights the inhabitants of the Endoume-Bompard district, with a fine selection of cheeses coming directly from sourced and ethical producers. The bonus? You can taste and test the cheeses directly on the secret terrace. The mozzarella di buffala is incredible, a real taste of Italy. The cheese factory also works with the Chicoulon wine bar near the Old Port!

La Canebiere street also has its own cheese shop! Manon Armand opened Froumaï (Provençal for “cheese”) two years ago. This lover of good products trained at Kalou before launching her own shop. She only sells cheeses that she has approved for their taste, texture and manufacturing conditions. The cheeses are mostly French (with the exception of Gouda from Holland and Peccorino from Italy) and made from raw milk, but she also thinks about mothers-to-be and sells some products made from pasteurised milk. Everything comes from small producers of her acquaintance, she can tell you with passion about each cheese sold, even the most original ones! On the dairy side, she sells the yoghurt of Marseilles’ childhood “le Caillolais”.

Maison Marin lives up to its name. Aurélie, the owner, wants everyone to feel at home when they come to buy their cheese! Located in the heart of the village district of Mazargues (which we offer a guided tour of), she lets her customers try farmhouse flavours from France, Spain and Italy. The products are always from artisanal producers and they respect seasonality. We particularly recommend that you try her fondue cheese (Swiss or Savoyard) and the timeless raclette cheese.

Le Royaume de la Chantilly is the Marseille institution to know. With five shops all over the city (Le Redon, la Treille, Sébastopol, Saint-Barnabé and Plan de Cuques), you’re bound to find an opportunity to try their incredible homemade whipped cream, their cheeses from small producers in the region, and even some catering dishes if you go to the shop in the 9th arrondissement.

We move away from Marseille to discover the Fromagerie du Barbaraou-Rouet in Allauch. Here, Pierre-Dominique Testa, the owner, has been selling directly the products of his cows since 1992! The name of his cheese dairy ‘Barbaraou’ comes from the district of Allauch where he was born, and ‘le Rouet’ is for the name of his alpine hamlet in the Queyras where he makes the transhumance every summer. This lover of Provence offers tomes, fourme d’Allauch, pavé marseillais, Gouda, brousse marseillaise, and many others. A little taste of the countryside near Marseille!