France Bon Appétit

On 28th July, Sopexa India participated in the International Food Industry summit organised by ASSOCHAM (The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India) at the Oberoi Hotel, New Delhi. The presentation gave an overview of food culture; a concept relatively unfamiliar to the audience, which was composed of professionals of the Indian sector. The lecture introduced the concept of food culture and followed it up with a comparative analysis of French and Indian food cultures, underlining the common elements of each in both countries.

Celebrating its 5th edition in India, Apéritif à la française was organised at Mumbai on 4 June 2009. The theme « A taste of cinéma » was a little hommage to Bollywood ; the Indian capital of Cinema. The event, which had 23 partners, welcomed more than 450 guests (professionals, press, prescribers and officials) at the Novotel hotel, Juhu Beach. H.E Jérôme Bonnafont, the Ambassador of France to India officially launched the evening and underlined the importance of French food culture before leaving the stage to Vijay Mallya, Chairman of the UB Group (3rd largest spirits producer in the world and owner of the Bouvet Ladubay vinyard) who professed his fondness for France.

Many media personalities also graced the evening including : Anish Trivedi (TV and Radio presenter), Chef Sanjeev Kapoor (renowned chef and host of a food show on TV), Shamita Singha (ex-Miss India and wine trainer) and Carol Garcias (model and actrice).

Sopexa launched its exclusive international barometer, The Wine Trade monitor in June, which is an Internet survey on still wines conducted on wine professionals from 16 countries. The initial results, unveiled at Vinexpo, show that despite the crisis, nearly 50% of the operators questioned remain optimistic about their market for 2009. French wines, a mainstay of their offer for 80% of them, are judged superior for special occasions (81%), for the positive image they convey (72%), for the extensive product range (59%) and for the consistently high taste quality (52%), The grape wine categories and AOP/IGP coexist equally and there is a steady demand for the rosé and organic wines. Finally, in term of price, it is observed that there is a sustained demand for the basic and middle range wines. More than 1358 professionals took this survey, faithfully reflecting the reality of each market in structure and volume of sales. This survey will be conducted regularly to follow the evolution of the markets.

It was necessary to increase the readability of labeling systems in terms of quality assurance and the origin of agricultural products, to simplify their use, while making European policies in this matter more consistent. This is a done deal as of May 1st: the European PDO (Protected Designation of Origin) logo has become mandatory on the packaging of all products that have the French AOC logo, except for wines which are governed by a different regulation. From now on, all products having an origin name based in European countries are grouped under a common logo. The AOC label will disappear from French cheeses.

AOC (Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée) [Controlled Appellation of Origin]: the quality guarantee equivalent to a certain soil

PDO (Protected Designation of Origin): the European equivalent of the AOC guarantee

PGI (Protected Geographical Indication): the guarantee of a link between the product and its soil Check the list of French products protected by quality signs here

When Isaac Carasso created Danone in 1919, he was the first in the world to start industrial production of yoghurt, traditionally produced by hand in Balkan and in Middle East. Produced from Pasteur Institute’s Lactobaccilus bulgaricus ferments, these yoghurts were only distributed in pharmacies at the beginning, in Spain then in France. Known for its qualities, its uniqueness in promoting longevity and digestion, Danone yoghurt became the dessert of the “happy digestion” and quickly established itself at dinning tables throughout the world.