More on food
Possumworld reader, Andy, wrote this comment in response to yesterday's blog:
Earlier this year, we went to meet someone in St. Gaudens and we had set the meeting up in a McDonald's parking lot because it was really easy for us to find each other. JM ate a burger and fries out of curiosity. He was not impressed, although he thought the burger part tasted better than what he remembered from long ago in California and he thought the French bakers hadn't quite grasped the concept of a hamburger bun. He said the one they used was more like a sweet brioche. I couldn't bring myself to eat anything, because it all looked as unpleasant as I remembered.
Still, the fact that the local McDo's are so few and far between does not make them empty. Far from it. The one in Pamiers often has a line of cars waiting to get into the parking lot on a Saturday afternoon! I have several friends who would rather eat there than at ANY other restaurant, and consider that or pizza as the perfect meal. This is usually the husband/child of the family, and the wife/mother is usually a bit despairing over the whole thing. However, they give in because they feel they don't have a choice.
I do know that when we were first married I almost never saw fat French people. That has definitely changed over the intervening years as McDonald's, KFC, Burger King, Pizza Hut and all the other American fast food brands have become as familiar to the average Frenchman as they are in the States. And, we won't even talk about the fact that a coke was something that was a rare treat here and something NEVER to be drunk with a meal. I still remember the horror on my MIL's face when a visiting American friend drank one during dinner at a fine restaurant in Paris. She talked about it for years! (It wasn't me, I promise!!!)
So, I suppose the ready meal phenomon may not be far behind. I hope that France can hold out, but I wonder if it's possible? After all, most trends seem to work their way around the world eventually, some more rapidly than others... All we can do is try to fight a rear guard action.
Ciao for now.
Randy
Sadly as an englishman you've hit the nail on the head there. I read your blog as my kiddies live in Chalabre and your blog gives me a flavour of what's going on around them, anyway back to the point, whan you look around my town you see so many fat, sallow faced kids and I compare them with mine(fresh faced and sparkling eyes,with maybe just a hint of bias!) I think I can sum up the difference with this small fact, from the centre of Chalabre you have to drive to Limoux for the nearest McDonalds(some 30 km's??), from the centre of my town there are 4 McDonalds within walking distance and a further 3 within a fifteen minute drive........draw your own conclusions!!It is true that here, one needs to drive to either Limoux (25 km) or Pamiers (45 km) to get a "fix" of McDo's. Now, I have to admit this shameful fact: before moving here, JM and I had probably not eaten at a McDonald's in over 20 years, with the exception of buying a breakfast sandwich at an airport outlet because it was 6 am and NOTHING else was open except Starbucks. So, our choice was a supersweet pastry or McDonald's. Hard call.
Earlier this year, we went to meet someone in St. Gaudens and we had set the meeting up in a McDonald's parking lot because it was really easy for us to find each other. JM ate a burger and fries out of curiosity. He was not impressed, although he thought the burger part tasted better than what he remembered from long ago in California and he thought the French bakers hadn't quite grasped the concept of a hamburger bun. He said the one they used was more like a sweet brioche. I couldn't bring myself to eat anything, because it all looked as unpleasant as I remembered.
Still, the fact that the local McDo's are so few and far between does not make them empty. Far from it. The one in Pamiers often has a line of cars waiting to get into the parking lot on a Saturday afternoon! I have several friends who would rather eat there than at ANY other restaurant, and consider that or pizza as the perfect meal. This is usually the husband/child of the family, and the wife/mother is usually a bit despairing over the whole thing. However, they give in because they feel they don't have a choice.
I do know that when we were first married I almost never saw fat French people. That has definitely changed over the intervening years as McDonald's, KFC, Burger King, Pizza Hut and all the other American fast food brands have become as familiar to the average Frenchman as they are in the States. And, we won't even talk about the fact that a coke was something that was a rare treat here and something NEVER to be drunk with a meal. I still remember the horror on my MIL's face when a visiting American friend drank one during dinner at a fine restaurant in Paris. She talked about it for years! (It wasn't me, I promise!!!)
So, I suppose the ready meal phenomon may not be far behind. I hope that France can hold out, but I wonder if it's possible? After all, most trends seem to work their way around the world eventually, some more rapidly than others... All we can do is try to fight a rear guard action.
Ciao for now.
Randy
6 Comments:
Chere Randy et cher Jean Marc:
Puis je vous adresser un article tres interessant publie par Barrons au sujet de l'alimentation en France:
"France's Embrace of `Le Big Mac' Drives Escargot Sellers Abroad
By Helene Fouquet
Oct. 6 (Bloomberg) -- It's 3:15 a.m. and Gregory Herve is halfway through his workday. He sells dog-cockle shellfish from Normandy and oysters from Marennes-Oleron at Rungis, the world's biggest wholesale fresh-food market, on the outskirts of Paris.
Business isn't as brisk as it used to be as French people turn to supermarkets, buy more frozen vegetables and meats, and dig into Big Macs. Rungis, which opened in 1969 to supply Ile de Re potatoes, Burgundy escargot and Ardennes boletus mushrooms to restaurants and shops, is now searching for customers abroad.
The company that owns Rungis, where workers sup on calf's kidneys and red wine, is free to expand overseas after the government in August agreed to give up control. Semmaris, the company, is now helping set up markets in China and plans to offer its savoir faire to wholesalers in Russia and the U.K.
``Anything we can do to keep French products and gastronomy at the top is welcome,'' says Herve, 33. ``If the French eat less fish, I'm happy to be able to sell to foreigners.''
The French spent 14 percent of their income on food last year, down from 21 percent in 1969, according to Paris-based statistical institute Insee.
The government, which originally invested in the company to guarantee secure and sustainable food supplies, doesn't consider overseas expansion as part of its mission, Semmaris says. The state is selling an undisclosed portion of its 56.85 percent stake in the company. The bidding period closed last week.
Appetite for Risk
``We think the state as a majority stakeholder is not the best for growth investments,'' Semmaris Chief Executive Officer Marc Spielrein says. ``The state has no appetite for the investments we are aiming for.''
Semmaris and the 1,340 companies it represents are stepping up efforts to export their produce and know-how in selling perishable items -- from determining the quality of vegetables, meat and fish to refrigerating and transporting them.
In Nanning, in southwestern China, Semmaris is helping set up a wholesale market. The company worked as a consultant on a planned fresh-food market in Shanghai, and is seeking to manage or buy shares in the Chinese operator. It is exploring similar opportunities in Russia and the U.K.
``That's where growth will come from,'' Spielrein says.
Sales at Rungis exceeded 7.1 billion euros ($9 billion) last year. About 65 percent of that came from the Paris area, 25 percent from the rest of France and 10 percent from overseas. With sales shrinking by 1 to 2 percentage points a year in the Paris region, Rungis plans to increase exports to about 15 percent of sales within 10 years, says David Bourganel, Semmaris's marketing director.
`The Belly of Paris'
Heeding Semmaris's plea for independence, the Finance Ministry called for bids for an undisclosed stake in the company. The state won't reduce its ownership below a blocking stake, 33 percent in France, because of protests by opponents such as the mayor of Chevilly-Larue, where the market is located. The ministry declined to comment on the bids.
Semmaris is attractive because it has overseas growth prospects, Bourganel says.
``It's about food, about what nourishes,'' he says. ``It's a fantasy for French people.''
The 70-plus fresh-food halls at Rungis, a few miles south of Paris, feed that fantasy. The market opened after the city decided to shut down the 800-year-old downtown Les Halles -- called ``The Belly of Paris'' by novelist Emile Zola -- for hygiene and space reasons.
Fruits, Flowers, Veggies
The market today covers 232 hectares (573 acres), an area about the size of the principality of Monaco, with rows and rows of stalls selling vegetables, fruits, flowers, meat and fish.
Visitors are allowed, although only wholesale purchases are permitted. Fish and seafood sales start at about 2 a.m. Flowers are gone by midday.
For hungry workers on the night shift, Aux Provinces, a restaurant next to the fruit halls, starts serving a glass of wine, a plate of calf's kidneys cooked in Porto and a cup of coffee for 10 euros as early as 3 a.m.
Rungis clients include about 50 percent of Paris's 30,000 eateries, Bourganel says, including many three-star Michelin restaurants.
The declining sales in Paris reflect changing food habits, with people buying more packaged products and eating out more at fast-food restaurants. McDonald's Corp. more than doubled its restaurants in France to 1,061 in 2005 from 429 in 1995, serving as many as 1 million meals daily, according to its Paris office.
Small food markets around Paris have all but disappeared. The number of supermarkets in France increased to 7,872 in 2004 from 5,869 in 1995, according to Insee. Paris-based Carrefour SA, the world's No. 2 retailer, has 308 outlets in the Paris area from 266 in 2000, and plans to add 30 by 2008.
``It saddens me that people prefer supermarket food to the incredible diversity of fresh products that comes from here,'' fish seller Herve says. ``They don't even pay less for that food.''
To contact the reporter on this story: Helene Fouquet in Paris at hfouquet1@bloomberg.net
Tres amicalement,
Ralph
By Ralph de Butler, At 9:04 AM
Hello Randy,
I used to go to MacDonalds often when I was in high school ; it was about the only place where you could eat a warm meal with about 5-6 euros ; I am not sure that it's worse than regular sandwiches.
I still go once in a while ; they now propose salads, yogourts and stuff like this. I think you can eat correctly at McDonald's ; it is really a matter of home habits like you said in the previous post, more than any brand's fault (it would be so easy). But I totally agree with Mrs L. about coke ! At McDonalds you can always choose water...
Bises
By Marianne, At 9:14 AM
Dear Randy and Jean Marc:
This is not a Barrons article but "of course" a Bloomberg.
Sorry about the misquote.
Bien amicalement.
As a side note to Marianne, there is no way you can compare a Mac sandwich to the real thing.
On the top of it Mac Donald has done a terrible job at getting their quality up in the USA.
You want to talk about a Burger, let's talk "IN & OUT" "DOUBLE DOUBLE"
All the Mac Do graduates running the company have no love of food left in them...just the love of the all migthy $$$.
Nothing wrong with profit but let's not give them a credit they do not deserve.
Sincerely,
Ralph de Butler
By Ralph de Butler, At 9:29 AM
Ralph, I found that article fascinating and sad. What a shame that people may lose that diversity.
However, I do admit to buying things at supermarkets, including frozen vegetables. Sometimes, frozen vegetables can actually contain more vitamins than fresh ones, if the "fresh" ones have been sitting around for more than a day or two. But, that being said, I also go to the primeur several times a week for fresh as well. There is no real substitute for fresh fruit!
Marianne, I agree, I shouldn't blame everything on McDonald's, but they do have a rather bad reputation in many parts of the world, even if they are making efforts to provide healthier choices these days.
Ralph, do you know that in 30 years in L.A., I NEVER tried and In-n-Out burger! The one near us in Tarzana was always way too crowded!
R
By Randy, At 9:37 AM
Dear Randy:
Next time you get back to the West Coast you must try "In & Out".
The meat is fresh, not frozen although it is not garanteed "organic".
Same for the French (freedom) Fries.
The hamburger concept in my mind is great. The issues are with the processing.
Ralph
By Ralph de Butler, At 10:02 AM
Ralph! Why are you still awake???
Well, if we DO get back, I will attempt to get to one. I know that the family who owns In-N-Out is very committed to quality, which is, as you point out, the issue, not the concept of fast food per se.
However, given the inconvenience of international travel at the moment, I don't find myself feeling particularly tempted by the idea of such a long flight.
R
By Randy, At 11:26 AM
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