Evolutions and new trends in the arts of the table sector

How can we explain that gastronomy is becoming a mass phenomenon whereas its representatives only address to a limited elite?  How can we explain the price difference between a standardised cuisine and luxury cuisine? Which economic models of restaurant business are developing? What does it mean to produce a creative cuisine in gastronomy?  Which economic analysis of gastronomy can be made as mass markets and luxury markets develop?

Law, food and gastronomy: the French legal exception...

First observation: Fashioned by their history and their environment, kitchens and gastronomy in France form a type of cultural expression among the most outstanding in the country. This cultural expression, materialised namely through a search for quality, taste and authenticity, the pleasure taken in eating and innovating, makes up the French art of living.    Second observation: Very early on, France endeavoured to legally defend this culinary identity. First of all, through very dense national regulations setting the requirements for guaranteeing a high level of quality in food products and culinary preparations. Then, through the setting up of specific institutions for prevention and repression. Finally, an intense judicial activity which, through successive touches, set a food related precedent that cannot be found anywhere else. The long term viability of the quality of French products partly lies in the fact that they are obliged to meet strict requirements. Development leads to temper this analysis considering the international commitments of France liable to have an indirect effect.   Third observation: Today, the French legal arsenal now has to come to terms with the standards of the European Union on one hand and, on the other, with those of international trade (e.g. the Codex alimentarius). This situation results in making it impossible to enforce its national regulations contrary to these standards, even in situations that specifically concern the French domestic market. As for imported products, they escape the restraining rules of the French texts which penalises the producers within the national territory and constitutes an absolute case of counter discrimination. Now these standards often suffer the influence of pressure groups or Governments that are not especially renowned for their gastronomy; they participate in the food globalization process and do not care enough about the protection of quality products. These standards are mainly prompted by a consensual logic between the Governments that take part in their elaboration. From then on, they usually reflect the smallest common denominator found between the Governments, hence their mediocrity with regard to the French art of living. For example, one of these standards has permitted Emmenthal without its rind – a gastronomic aberration! The French food regulations correspond to a country with a culinary and gastronomic tradition. Its texts of law and legal decisions are as subtle, numerous and complex as its dishes or the aromas of its wines. What will be left tomorrow? But we must not be mistaken. The opening onto the food focussed Europe and the World will only be mentioned here (and not developed) so as to put the specificity of French food law better into perspective. In this course the aim is therefore not to bring up international problems, nor to describe situations of national conflicts within Europe or between Europe and third countries. Nor is it in our intention to present an account of the food processing industry law. All these themes are indeed important, but they would take us too far away from our subject.

The AOC, an evolutive notion

The AOC - Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée (label guaranteeing the origin and the quality of a food product) was created in 1935 to guarantee the origin of wine. It was then extended to other products including cheese, poultry, shellfish... It implies a close link between a food product, a terroir, a tradition and human know-how.  But the AOC is about to be overshadowed by the AOP (Appellation d'Origine Protégée), its European equivalent.  An explanation of this major turning point is now more than ever necessary. An example: the Camembert cheese, a French myth Ancient Norman cheese, the camembert cheese arrived in Paris at the dawn of the industrial revolution, thanks to the railway. In the second half of the 19th Century, it was present everywhere in France. Several workshops in the Central and East of France began to produce their own camembert, to the great displeasure of Norman producers. So the Normans attempted, at the beginning of the 20th Century, to obtain a designation of origin to keep a monopoly on the manufacture of the camembert cheese. But it was too late: the Court considered camembert  was a generic product which could be produced anywhere.  At last, in 1983, the camembert cheese made from raw milk and ladled by hand obtained an AOC. Today, this traditional product represents 10% of the production of camembert cheese, whereas the rest is processed with pasteurized milk on an industrial scale in huge factories.