A Look at the European Union – Part 3 of 3
Staff Writer - October 7, 2005
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The Global Village
As Russian leader Mikhail Gorbachev observed when the Soviet empire collapsed, we are now living in a global village. Notwithstanding language barriers and different traditions, the electronic / virtual world of global communication that we live in is creating a global society at an increasing speed. It's amazing how European and US consumers are developing similar trends, watching the same movies and listening to the same music.
"There is a growing interest in quality, quality food labels, and in a guarantee of safe products," wrote Inigo Canedo, director of European Gourmet Products, a Madrid-based, 40 European food producers consortium. "There is a lot more competition in the EU internal market due to the joining of ten new members that collectively have a large production of agricultural goods. Also, supermarkets are growing at a faster rate than hypermarkets and we are seeing a continuing concentration of distribution chains. The bigger European and international chains are buying smaller chains to obtain a bigger market share, and consequently, the more traditional shops are losing market share."
Among the trends that are gaining ground both in Europe and the US, is the growing demand for healthful food products, the increased sales of ready-to-eat meals and a huge request for natural waters and healthy drinks. Europe, on the other hand, is generally experiencing a decrease in wine and an increased sale of prepared foods, a fact that seems to indicate that European youths are not following in their parents’ traditions, opting instead for a more global (should we say American?) way of life. Especially France, whose wine industry represents a huge part of the country's economy, is strongly concerned about such new trends.
"The European economy is sour right now," said the U.S. representative for the Prosciutto di Parma consortium, David Biltchik. "There is less consumption in Europe of many of these traditional products, particularly in France and Italy, and of course, the smaller producers are hit the hardest. The PDO system is important because where they [Europeans] are strongest is in the production of unique, traditional products that are carefully regulated, and where year after year, century after century, the products are really good. Fortunately, in the end, American consumers are willing to pay more for things like authentic Camembert."
Hopefully the new European product protection systems will guarantee the authenticity of traditional food products and preparation as we progress through the 21st century and the market becomes more and more global. As the US continues to look to Europe for products and ideas, Europe itself is looking back to its own traditions, but at the same time it is also looking across the ocean to the US and Asia, sharing trends and tastes. Organic farming, artisanal cheese production, small craft brewing, and the marketing of healthful, whole foods have gained enormous ground both in the United States and Europe and maybe, sometime in the future, Europeans will stop cracking jokes about American food.
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