cremier

Cremier, written in standard French as crémier, is a term for a vendor of dairy products, typically the owner or shopkeeper of a crèmerie. A crémier's primary role is to sell milk, cream, butter, yoghurt, and often cheese, while advising customers on freshness, quality, and selection. In many towns and cities, the crèmerie serves as a local specialty shop for dairy goods and related goods.

Etymology and forms: The word derives from crème, meaning cream, with the agentive suffix -ier, which denotes a person associated with a profession or trade. The standard spelling uses the acute accent on the first e (crémier) and the noun for the shop (crèmerie). The unaccented variant crémier appears primarily in older texts or in contexts where diacritics are omitted; it is not the normative form in modern French.

Usage and context: In contemporary French, crémier and crèmerie are common terms in everyday language. Historically, crémier also carried social connotations as a reliable, familiar local seller of dairy products, often integral to rural and market town economies. The concept remains represented in modern retail, though many markets now feature larger dairy sections within supermarkets as well.

See also: Crèmerie, Fromage, Lait, Crème.