The banners calling for people to vote for Niort in the “Most Beautiful Market in France” competition are still hung on the Halles. The aprons encourage customers to always mobilize around the waist of certain traders. But this Saturday, a detail betrays the victory of the capital of Deux-Sèvres in the TF1 competition Thursday, for the 7th edition: the trophy, which passes from hand to hand on the stalls.
“We go see the traders, we give them the trophy and we take their photo so that they have a souvenir of the Most Beautiful Market, says Jean-Luc Langevin, one of the ushers. We also have regulars running after us to have their picture taken with !”
A “showcase” to attract customers?
The regulars are the ones who are mainly present this Saturday, including outside Les Halles, where half of the 60 producers and sellers set up shop for the weekend. The market is taking place in a rather usual atmosphere.almost calm, under a threatening sky.
This title of “Most beautiful market in France”, it remains “great for the market itself and for the region“, estimates Alain Lemoine, winemaker, who has worked in this market for 28 years. “It also allows us to thank our customers for their loyalty, says Sylvie Baudouin, a cheesemaker. If we are here, it is also because they come every week, there is everything that we share with them!”
Louis-Marie, in fact, comes every Wednesday and weekend: “These are local products, maybe tourists will stop by this summer to taste our cheese cakes or marsh eels!” “This is the third time we’ve taken part in the competition, and we’ve seen that there have always been people afterwards! concludes Willy Armand, a pork butcher. There, like we are first, there will be people this summer, that’s for sure!“ Some of their predecessors, big winners of the competition, like Montbrison, saw their attendance increase by 30% after winning the title.
