Confusing food news continues to pile up in the France file, with recent article pointing out a number of contrary trends and confusions—and even a little slap from Italy over pasta.
Starbucks tops the news; with only 110 stores in France it’s a small player, but apparently a successful one, as the the photo above of the line waiting to get into Starbuck’s first store in Strasbourg. While they could all be Euro-bureaucrats, nonetheless, Starbucks has done a deal with supermarket giant Monoprix to pop up coffee confections in hundreds of stores. More HERE
Of course, it’s not the first American chain to take root in France; for MacDonald’s, France is the number one market per capita outside the United States, and Burger King is trying to catch up. But can they succeed at a time when not only is vegetarianism emerging from being considered a bit odd in France, but French families in general have been eating less meat? Part of that may be temporary due to recent documentaries about conditions in meat-packing plants, but it appears the trend is significant. More HERE
And finally, another international food kerfluffle. A YouTube video by a French cook showing a quick-and-easy pasta carbonara drew protests from Italy for using the wrong techniques, the wrong ingredients, etc. It even drew a protest from Barilla, the company whose pasta was used. More HERE
Photo: @f3Alsace / Twitter
