Cornell University

Bonjour for one last final post as my France adventure draws to a close. Since my main objective of the internship was to fully understand the concept of terroir and how the farm incorporates value added agriculture in the form of tourism, I am going to elaborate once again on these concepts now that I have actually had field experience (and can understand a lot more that is said to me in French!) My internship has been absolutely amazing, and I strongly encourage anyone looking for an internship next summer to abandon their paid, somewhat normal internship offers for an unknown adventure (thank you Cornell Tradition for making this opportunity financially feasible.) I had the chance to do so much ranging from planting olives trees, sorting olives, bottling olive oil, packaging, guiding tastings and giving farm tours in French. I also had the opportunity to meet with research professors, local producers, and government officials to learn about agriculture policy and consumer trends.

In my own opinion, the French seem to have their priorities right when it comes to food much more so then we do here in the States. They value quality and taste over time and convenience, and this is reflected in the fact that a business such as the Domain de l’Oulivie exists in France in the first place. I can clearly understand why one of the major challenges of the farm is the fact that Spain can export olive oil to grocery stores in France for a fraction of the price that it takes for the Domain to hand-produce their olive oil since it is so manually, labor intensive. I feel that if the Domain operated in the United States, this would be even more of a problem, but in France consumers are driven by the desire to connect to their food. This connection is important for the Domain because it allows them to convey to customers that the extra price means that the olive oil is more flavorful, healthier for the tree, rooted in tradition, and generally of a better quality.  French consumers are very receptive to this, as Eric Cellier, chef of Maison De La Lozere, stated in our interview,“ I chose the oil of the Domaine de l’Oulivie because it is a product of quality, and is a product very representative of the region. It is a product made with passion, soul, and feeling.  I use the oil of the Domaine de l’Oulivie and no others.”

It is clear that the olive farm gives added value to their product from the standpoint that their quality is so high. In addition to this, value addition is given based on the fact that their product line is so unique due to their cosmetics, flavored olive oils, olive spreads, and their extensive use of heirloom varieties of olives.

The agro-tourism aspect of the farm equally gives value to their product. In the last few weeks I was at the farm, the Domain started a picnic program where customers could come and eat lunch purchased from the store, partially prepared by yours truly, in the olive grove. In addition to this, the festivals, history and tradition of the farm, educational video about olive harvest, translated from French to English for tourists, again by yours truly, and on-site store continue to add value for the farm. The farm is able to market to a wide range of consumers, from residents, tourists, exporters, other local boutiques, restaurants, retired couples, and children. I feel that by working on the farm, taking part in all of the activities, and interacting with the wide variety of customers, I more fully understand the concept of agro-tourism. As far as terroir goes, I started off this blog by searching the academic journals for articles to answer and clearly define terroir, and wound up accidently stumbling upon the perfect definition while interviewing one of my bosses, Pierre Vialla. When asked what does terroir mean, Pierre responded, “Terroir brings together history; the history of the land on which we live, the men who cultivate the soil for generations and the products that result. The history of men and the products, this is what terroir is for me.”

Needless to say, I truly enjoyed my French experience. It is nearly  impossible to achieve a complete understanding of French agriculture, but I tried to learn as much as possible, and I can definitely say that I successfully pursued French desserts.  Thanks for reading-merci and au revoir!

Today, I was able to discuss the consumer trends of olive oil with everyone on the farm, and learn more about the clientele base of the farm.

Olive oil is experiencing a dramatic surge in popularity.  The farm has noticed that customers are now especially concerned about the health of the environment, and their own personal health. Olive oil has a good image, thanks to the heavily scrutinized Mediterranean diet, and is rich in polyphenols, Vitamin E, and monounsaturated fatty acids. I am indulging myself in the olive oil, as after all, I am somewhat near the prime location of deviation for Ancel Key’s Seven Countries study findings. The study found that serum cholesterol levels were strongly associated with coronary heart disease everywhere, but particularly, not in Southern Europe. Could this be the “healthful” fats of olive oil at work?

The farm hopes that by going organic, they will further project their image of being healthy for both the body and the environment.

A paper by T. Michels (2006) identified six consumer profiles for olive oil, which I thought was very noteworthy. The paper describes the “the foodie, the aspirational foodie, the recipe reader, time poor foodie, time poor aspirationals and the uninterested.” Michels also points out that consumers do not really know about olive oil, or various ways to use it. I somewhat agree with this even though in the US, Rachel Ray and others are always proclaiming their love for Extra Virgin olive oil to the public masses.  Here, even though this is the south of France, and not the larger Spanish or Italian olive oil production areas, it is difficult to find a product which does not use olive oil.

In addition to consumer trends, it was interesting to learn the break-down of the sales on the farm; an incredible 70% is sold directly from the on-site shop. The shop is only 10 minutes away from Montpellier, a very large city, and attracts wealthy clientele since the product is of a very high quality and is labor intensive. Besides location, I think the store has such a good turnover because the whole experience is very personalized. As soon as a customer comes through the door, they are greeted with a “Bonjour!” and if desired, are educated about the various products of the farm, which includes a tasting. I have taken part of this process many times as both the taster and the informer, although I do have to admit, usually I am the taster.

Exportation is a new feature for the Domain, and results in 5% of sales. Apparently, it is harder to export to Asian markets since olive oil is not as widely used in their cuisine, but northern Europe and North America are turning out to be important customers. For example, we just prepared a large order to send out to Canada.

 The remaining 25% of sales results from restaurants and local boutiques that carry the Domain’s products. I have mentioned such boutiques when I discussed the “Maison de Producteurs” organization in the last post.

Along the lines of selling to restaurants, this week was definitely one of the highlights of my entire internship. I had a chance to visit Maison De La Lozere, a restaurant that the Domain de l’Oulivie almost exclusively supplies (http://www.celliermorel.com/). I was able to eat, see the kitchen, and interview the chef, Eric Cellier. This is definitely my favorite kind of learning experience!

 A paper by Abel Duarte Alonso dealing with olives and tourism describes how when restaurants carry local olive products, it increases the interest of customers, and acts as an incentive to attract customers to the olive farm or to buy the farm’s products.  From my visit to the Maison De La Lozere, I understand how this can be true. The restaurant displays the various oils they use from the Domain in a gorgeous glass case for customers to see when they first enter the restaurant. Also, the chef has worked extensively with my boss at the farm to blend his own special oil using two varieties, and a special black bottle which was designed exclusively for the use of the restaurant. After select customers dine, the chef offers them little vials of the olive oil to take home as well. The oil is used in the classic style with vegetables, meat, and fish, but is also used to make marshmallows, and ice cream.

Currently, Mr. Cellier is working on a project to blend chocolate, oil, and basil. Every dish I had was divine, and it was fantastic for me to see what a great market and promotional outlet the restaurant is for the farm. It also reinforced the fact that the quality of the product is crucial for its marketing niche. Olive oil may be made cheaply in Spain, and it may take a lot of work to produce the final product, as I have experienced, but in the end, when the plate arrives in front of you, it is definitely worth the price and extra effort…

I know I have previously mentioned the Common Agriculture Policy, known in France as the Politique Agricole Commune, when I initially underwent the French agriculture policy crash course at SupAgro University. However, now that I am on the olive farm and have discussed with my hosts the role of public policy on the daily financial operation of the farm, I have a definite renewed interest. If the thought of policy makes your eyes glaze over, I will try to intersperse pretty pictures from the farm throughout my policy spiel. 

Here’s a quick description of the PAC as I understand it… Originally, the PAC was focused on the objective of increasing food production since food security was a postwar issue. Farmers were given grants and subsidies for excess food produced. By the time the 1980’s rolled around however, the opposite, food surplus, was now the problem. The policy’s aim of creating food security worked too well. The French refer to it as being a “victim de son success.” Thanks to large reforms in 2003, grants are now given to farmers independently of amount produced to avoid the problem of a food surplus.

There is still income from the government through subsidies, but for example, instead of subsidizing for quantity, grants come to farmers for aspects such as sustainability and food safety practices. The farmers are free to produce whatever is most profitable for them by following market demand. I’m almost done with the simplified policy lecture here, but I do have to point out my favorite aspect of the PAC in relation to France. I find it so interesting that out of the whole EU, France gets the most money from the PAC-a whopping 42.7% even though they do not contribute the most money to the European Common Budget. Obviously, this is a source of great debate for upcoming revisions to PAC, but it just goes to show how important agriculture is here in France.

The Domaine de l’Oulivie gets such grants from the national government, the EU, and the Region, especially since the farm is working on developing themselves as an organic farm. Still, because olive growing makes up only .1% of the agricultural products produced, it is not given financial priority in relation to the PAC budget. To combat this, growers have united under AFIDOL, Association Française Interprofessionnelle de l’Olive. It is a professional olive association which includes 30,000 growers, 30 confectioners that use olives in their products, and 18 olive nurseries. In addition to having power to petition for government funding, the association assists French olive growers, such as the Domain de l’Oulivie, by providing technical knowledge specific to Mediterranean olive growing.

It is fantastic that there are so many organizations to assist the smaller farmer in a financially viable manner here. The farm belongs to several organizations which help market their product. One example is the French Agriculture Board’s Bienvenue a la Ferme, which is a membership program to promote regional products. For only a small fee, the farm receives publicity such as road signs. The farm also markets their products with a Qualite Sud de France label which is an association created by the Languedoc-Roussillon Region. The products are described as “coming from the soul, heart, and taste buds.” Most importantly, the label creates a brand identity that links local products to a market, and is a mark of quality for the customer. The newest organization for the Domain de l’Oulivie is the Maison de Producteurs, which is a group of producers with boutiques that sell each other’s products.

I would now like to introduce my dessert of the moment… the Canelé. It is the official pastry, with a custard center, from Bordeaux containing egg, sugar, milk, rum, and vanilla. I was doing a little research on it and found out that back in 1663 there was a registered Guild of the Canauliers, or the people that make the Canelé. Unfortunately, these people did not belong to the Pastry Guild so they were not allowed to use milk and sugar in their confections. On March 3, 1755, the council in Versailles ruled that the Canauliers were allowed to use milk and sugar. In 1767 there was another ruling passed that said a city could have only 8 Canelé shops, so the profession was highly regarded. This ruling must have not been well enforced. Also, as a point of interest, the main rum flavoring that we all so enjoy now was not added until at least the 20^th century…