Communication at AsiaEuro 2008 Kuala Lumpur

1. ERIT-Asia
Different Strokes for
Different Folks:
Catering to Differences…
Prof. Jean-Pierre Poulain, Socio-anthropologist, Dean of CETIA,
CERTOP-TAS UMR-CNRS-5044, University of Toulouse II-Le Mirail
Asia-Euro Tourism, Culture & Gastronomy Conference 2008, Kuala-Lumpur

2. Jean-Pierre Poulain
Plan
 Tourism and the
experiences of food
 The construction of
Excellence
in gastronomy
 Food court, geographical
indications…

3. Jean-Pierre Poulain
The tourist point of view
 A significant part of the activity of a tourist
How to go from a constrained time (biological activity +++) to a cultural
time (cultural activity+++)?
 15% of the budget of a tourist + an important part of the budget
of the souvenirs
 A space at the medical risk:
 the “turista” is… a major tourist activity
 Avian flu
 A space of symbolic risk
 A space of discovered and pleasure

4. Source: Hall, C.M and Sharples, L. (2003)
Gastronomic
Tourism
Gourmet
Tourism
High
Interest
Moderate
Interest
Low
Interest
Low
Interest/
No Interest
Rural/Urban
Tourism
Culinary
Tourism
Cuisine
Tourism
Primary Secondary Subsidiary to other
Interest
Importance of a special interest in food as a travel motivation
No.
of
Tourists

5. Tourisme
rural
Cuisine du
monde
Restaurants
du monde
Different types food interest and creation
of economical value
No.
de
Touristes
potentiels
Gastronomy
Dépenses en valeur et en % du budget
Haut de
gamme
-
+
- +
Food habits as an entry
intou cultures

6. Pragmatic point of view
Social
roles
Food
habits
Living
conditions
Social
roles
Food
praticies
Living
conditions
Travel
Place of
residence
Place of
stay

7. Food needs and expectations of the
tourists
Safety vs discovery
 Interest for the other food
cultures
 Need to be in trust to be
secure safe
Daily food vs exceptional
 Domestic food home food
home made
 Professional cooking from
canteen to gastronomy
Jean-Pierre Poulain

8. Reinsurance
Fast-food
International
Mac’ do,
Pizza Hut
Street food
Small restaurants
Gastronomic
Restaurants
Food -courts
Asian thematic
restaurant
Bangkok Jam
Asian
gastronomic
restaurants
Exception
Discovery
Daily

9. The Level of Trust for Various Food
Safety Accreditations
Jean-Pierre Poulain
Global Food Research & Advisory Sdn Bhd (GFRA).

10. The Level of Trust for Various Halall
Accreditations
Jean-Pierre Poulain
Global Food Research & Advisory Sdn Bhd (GFRA).

11. Food-court
Jean-Pierre Poulain

12. Jean-Pierre Poulain

13. Jean-Pierre Poulain

14. Questions
 What are the determinants of trust in food
? Safety, symbolic risk…
 What kind of opportunities for Malaysia
 What are the obstacles?
 What are the relations between the
marketing of the hotel chains and local
food cultures
Jean-Pierre Poulain

15. Jean-Pierre Poulain
Plan
 Tourism and the
experiences of food
 The construction of
Excellence
in gastronomy
 Food court, geographical
indications…

16. 2004, The World’s 50 Best restaurants
1. The French Laundry, California, USA
2. The Fat Duck, Bray, UK
3. El Bulli, Montjoi, Spain
4. L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon, Paris
5. Pierre Gagnaire, Paris
6. Guy Savoy, Paris
7. Nobu, London
8. Restaurant Gordon Ramsay, London
9. Michel Bras, Laguiole, France
10. Restaurant Le Louis XV, Monaco
11. Gramercy Tavern, New York
12. Daniel, New York
13. Tetsuya's, Sydney
14. Hakkasan, London
15. The Waterside Inn, UK
16. St John, London
17. L'Ami Louis, Paris
18. Jean Georges, New York
19. Le Gavroche, London
20. Flower Drum, Melbourne, Australia
16

17. 14 March 2007 during the announcement
• French giant tire manufacturer Michelin's
CEO Michel Rollier (R)
poses with famous chef Paul Bocuse (L),
Michelin Guide Director Jean-Luc Naret
(2nd L) and the Michelin mascot
Bibendum (C)
in Tokyo, during the announcement by
Michelin that they will publish Asia's first
edition of the guide book
"Michelin guide Tokyo" in November
2007.
• 600 000 copies sold in a few weeks
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18. The traditional hierarchization of arts
18
Music
Peinture
sculpture
Litterature
Movies,
pictures
Song
jazz
Gastronomy, Cuisines,
Décoration….
Fashion, cosmetic
Sphere of legitimacy to
universal claim
Sphere of legitimable
Académisme, universities Concurrent authorities of
legitimating; critics
Non legitimate authorities
of legitimating: publicity
Sphere of arbitrary
² Advertising methods +
-

19. Brief history of Gastronomic guides
 1802, L’almanach des gourmands
Grimod de la Reynière
 1846, Edo Meibutsu Tebiki-gusa
 1900, Guide Michelin
 1914, Les auberges de France
par le club des sans club
 1974, Le Gault et Millau
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20. Jean-Pierre Poulain

21. Guide typology
Types Exemples
Hierarchical
guides
Classification
without any
comment
Michelin
Guide of author Classification with
explications
Gault et Millau,
Bottin gourmand
Champerard,
Community guide A way to share
good addresses
Zagat, Routard,
Club des sans club
Advertising guide Technical
classification
Relais et châteaux
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22. Effects of amplification in food guides system
Guides
600 000 sold
2 400 000 readers
Specialized
medias
X 10 millions
General
media
Press, TV,
radios, web
X 100 millions
22
Media
Columnist
Guides

23. Amplification effects
23
Journalists
Columnists
Critics
• A lot of non specialized
journalists
• Third circle
• Build the notoriety
• Newspapers, TV, radios,
Web
• Second circle
• Extension of legitimacy
• A very small number of
guides and critics
• First circle and +- 10
• Give the legitimacy

24. The expérience of Restaurant Magazine
 In 2002, The professional
English magazine
Restaurant magazine
decides to classify nothing
less than “the best
restaurants of the world”. It
passes by unnoticed.
 In 2004, the context of the
second war of Iraq creates
conditions of mediatization.
Jean Pierre Poulain, université de Toulouse 24

25. Effects of amplification with the notoriety
model
Ranking
Press
agencies
General
medias
The columnists
are reduced to be
spectator or
commentators
25
Media
Press
agencies
Ranking

26.  The critics begins to
question the credibility
of the ranking
 Who decides ? What
is the composition of
the jury, their
nationalities, the
procedures of
selection of the
restaurant
 They notice that the list count 13 English
restaurants. If we always ate well in the British
catering, is it realistic to call for 30% of the best
restaurants of the world?
 If one consults the list with attention one is
delighted by the deserved presence of several
Australians establishments, but a little surprised to
find only two Italian restaurants. A sole German
chef having the place of honour (no doubt still the
old Europe…). No Swiss, did Freddy Girardet
acquire no follower? No Quebecker.
 However, good idea to include: 3 restaurants of
international palaces, too often underestimated: 1
from Hong Kong, another from India and a last one
from Dubai. But why not from Singapore, or
Malaysia or from Thailand: countries in which the
Hotel and Hospitality level is amongst the best?
 But why no restaurant from Japan?
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27. How to build an economic model ?
Ranking
Press
agencies
General
medias
27
Media
Press
agencies
Ranking
The model reduce the costs of the media…
But who can paid ? The actors of the
system who have interest for a geographic
decentration of the gastronomic system
(agro-industries,…)

28. How to build a sustainable economic
model
28
To sale

29. Two opposed models, but in concurrence
The academisation of the
model
 Definition of geographic areas
 Construction of a jury with
professional, critics, journalist
 Calculation of notoriety like for
the Nobel price but with a
geographical ponderation
The internationalisation of
the guides
 Tokyo
 Hong-Kong
 …
 Bocuse d’or in Asia mai
2008
http://www.bocusedor.com/2009/in
dex.php
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Guide
system
Notoriety
system

30.  Place of food and chefs in the médias
 What is the importance of the criticism
 How to build the fame of a chef or an
restaurant ?
 Role of the media
Jean-Pierre Poulain

31. Jean-Pierre Poulain
Plan
 Tourism and the experiences
of food
 The construction of Excellence
in gastronomy
 Geographical
indications…

32. Jean-Pierre Poulain

33.  The program: « On
district on industry »
Jean-Pierre Poulain

34. Act 602 LAWS OF MALAYSIA:
Geographical Indications 2000
 A Geographical Indication (GI) is a sign which identifies
a product as originating from a location that has given
that product a special quality or reputation or other
characteristic. It usually consists of the name of the
place of origin of the product.
Some well-known examples of GIs are "Bordeaux"
(being a region in France famous for its wines),
"Darjeeling" (a region in India famous for its tea) and
"Tuscany" (a region in Italy famous for its olive oil).
Jean-Pierre Poulain

35.  A geographical indication is a sign used on food stuffs produced in a certain
place and which possess the characteristics, qualities or reputation of a
certain region.
 A geographical indication usually consists of the name of the place of origin
and to be protected, a product must therefore derive its qualities or
reputation from that place. An example of a current geographical indication
is “Tuscany” for olive oil produced in a specific part of Italy (protected by
Italian Law No. 169, 1992).
 Protection of a geographical indication is new in Malaysia. It may be used
by the owner to prevent unauthorized parties from falsely using
a geographical indication to indicate as genuine a product with specific
qualities and characteristics when they are in fact an imitation.
Jean-Pierre Poulain

36. Jean-Pierre Poulain

37. What is meant by AOC ?
 "Appellation d'Origine
Contrôlée" (French Label of
Origin) means that the origin of
the cheese is controlled. This is
an official label of quality which
ensures that the cheese is:
 made following a traditional production
process and in a specific region
 tested according to the strictest
conditions for quality control
 Tasted by a jury of professional
 There are about 50 kinds of
cheese with AOC Label in
France
Jean-Pierre Poulain

38. Jean-Pierre Poulain

39. Jean-Pierre Poulain
Toward a market of high cultural value
products
 To develop cultural value of the
products to get absolute advantages
 A “high identity” product like
Champagne can be imitated, but not
equalized! The more it is copied the
more the value of the original is higher
 High cultural value products is a way to
relocalize the benefits of tourism to
diffuse it among farmers, caterers, food
artisans on the area concerned

40. Jean-Pierre Poulain
 The food studies can be useful:
 To help the tourists to understand a culture
 To develop high identity products
 To develop creativity in gastronomy
 To relocalize and diffuse the benefits of
tourism activity
 To develop collective labels
 To develop protected food appellation
products

41. Further researchs and applications
 The social construction of the market
 To develop indicators to evaluate the amplification effects and to
compare the economical models
 To study the social interactions between actors (critics,
journalists, chefs….
 To study the different paradigms of the construction of
gastronomy and their connections with cultural frameworks
 Construction of value
 …
 Applications
 To manage the promotion of a chef
 To set up training for critics, journalist
 …
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