Tuesday, February 01, 2005
France's struggling wine industry
France is spending $91 million to assist struggling French winemakers. According to the article, Chilean, Australian and American wines are giving French wines more competition, and domestic consumption of French wine (which accounts for 70% of total domestic production) will go down to around 15 gallons / year per person, from 17 gallons in 2003 (obviously, they don't drink it all in one go).
What isn't discussed, though, is the effect American dislike of all things French is having on the industry. America is the 5th largest export destination (accounting for 8.7% of total exports), which is impressive for a nation that is across a rather large body of water explorers like to call the Atlantic Ocean. The top four export destinations, the United Kingdom, Germany, Spain, and Italy, are all neighbors, and Italy and Spain are only marginally a more important export destination than the US (8.8% and 9.6%, respectively). Exports account for 28.1% of French GDP (which is very high, comparatively speaking, as only 10% of American GDP relies on exports). That means that exports to America account for approximately 2.5% of French GDP. 2.5% isn't small potatos.
I've been out of the loop somewhat with respect to current American opinion because I lived in Switzerland and Ireland for the last four years. I was in the French speaking part of Switzerland, and they cheered for the French national team like it was their team, so no negativity there (though Geneva has a rather charming festival called L'Escalade, wherein people commemorate the repulsion of an invading French army by cracking open a chocolate pot while saying something which, translated, means "and may it break like the heads of our French enemies"). Ireland likes France, at least if the proliferation of French-style markets and foods is any indication (hey, if I were stuck eating bland Irish food for 30 years, I'd want a bit of French color, too).
Anti-French bias, though, is fairly endemic in the US, a fact brought home to me when I was an extra on a film shooting outside of Santa Fe, New Mexico. We were reenacting the slaughter of an Indian tribe by a group of Colorado volunteers, so I spent the day doing politically incorrect things, such as pretending to bash the heads of hapless Native Americans. I also spent the day tumbling down a rocky precipice and running full blast across a VERY long field. My legs STILL hurt from it.
But I digress. Someone noted that one of my colleagues uniforms (he was supposed to be a major) looked french, and that lead to a half hour of French jokes, which are the modern day equivalent of the polish jokes everyone told when I was a kid (maybe it was a South Bend thing).
Okay, anecdotal evidence, but combined with nasty comments about the French in late-night talk shows, I would say that the French have lost their cachet in the minds of the typical American, and that HAS to affect their willingness to buy French imports.
France is spending $91 million to assist struggling French winemakers. According to the article, Chilean, Australian and American wines are giving French wines more competition, and domestic consumption of French wine (which accounts for 70% of total domestic production) will go down to around 15 gallons / year per person, from 17 gallons in 2003 (obviously, they don't drink it all in one go).
What isn't discussed, though, is the effect American dislike of all things French is having on the industry. America is the 5th largest export destination (accounting for 8.7% of total exports), which is impressive for a nation that is across a rather large body of water explorers like to call the Atlantic Ocean. The top four export destinations, the United Kingdom, Germany, Spain, and Italy, are all neighbors, and Italy and Spain are only marginally a more important export destination than the US (8.8% and 9.6%, respectively). Exports account for 28.1% of French GDP (which is very high, comparatively speaking, as only 10% of American GDP relies on exports). That means that exports to America account for approximately 2.5% of French GDP. 2.5% isn't small potatos.
I've been out of the loop somewhat with respect to current American opinion because I lived in Switzerland and Ireland for the last four years. I was in the French speaking part of Switzerland, and they cheered for the French national team like it was their team, so no negativity there (though Geneva has a rather charming festival called L'Escalade, wherein people commemorate the repulsion of an invading French army by cracking open a chocolate pot while saying something which, translated, means "and may it break like the heads of our French enemies"). Ireland likes France, at least if the proliferation of French-style markets and foods is any indication (hey, if I were stuck eating bland Irish food for 30 years, I'd want a bit of French color, too).
Anti-French bias, though, is fairly endemic in the US, a fact brought home to me when I was an extra on a film shooting outside of Santa Fe, New Mexico. We were reenacting the slaughter of an Indian tribe by a group of Colorado volunteers, so I spent the day doing politically incorrect things, such as pretending to bash the heads of hapless Native Americans. I also spent the day tumbling down a rocky precipice and running full blast across a VERY long field. My legs STILL hurt from it.
But I digress. Someone noted that one of my colleagues uniforms (he was supposed to be a major) looked french, and that lead to a half hour of French jokes, which are the modern day equivalent of the polish jokes everyone told when I was a kid (maybe it was a South Bend thing).
Okay, anecdotal evidence, but combined with nasty comments about the French in late-night talk shows, I would say that the French have lost their cachet in the minds of the typical American, and that HAS to affect their willingness to buy French imports.
