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TASTE BATTLE: THE AMATEUR VERSUS THE CONSUMER
An interview with Olivier Assouly, head of research at the IFM, in Télérama
November 2nd 2010
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Olivier Assouly, head of Research at the IFM and author of a number of reference books on the theme of taste is interviewed in Télérama which has published a study on the « taste battle » (n°3173, November 3rd 2010, pages 36 to 42).
« The very idea that taste can be built is paradoxical: is it not a gift and the freedom to appreciate? Family and custom-based influences are today coming up against huge competition from the food industry. But the industrial origin of the product is not the issue here. The real issue is the fact that industry is attempting to boost consumption and create addictions by taking the task of exercising our taste « off our hands ». Industry is cultivating less and less unique tastes and more and more neutral tastes that will not disgust anyone and cover a broader range of consumers. Just like any other organ, taste atrophies if it is underused. It needs to be trained, disciplined, like lovers of fine food or wine, to sharpen its sensitivity. Taste is not just a sense that procures pleasure, it is what enables us to measure a flavor, appreciate a work of art, confronting each of our judgments with those of others. |
This is why taste is a collective and, as such, political affair contrary to what food marketing suggests.
The most promising changes will not come from the fake innovations that win awards at the Sial (Salon de l'industrie agroalimentaire), nor will it come from the organic movement (which is not a taste). It will come from minorities. We see vine growers who have taken control of their own activity (by using native yeasts, limiting crops and chemicals), and are producing tastes that amateurs (wine lovers) and not consumers, will share by using their taste and ability to appreciate ».
Also available from IFM/Le Regard :
L'amateur : juger, participer et consommer
Un livre collectif publié aux Editions IFM/Le Regard. (A collective book published by Editions IFM/Le Regard.)
Edited by Olivier Assouly, this collective book evaluates a new type of economic production and social participation by analyzing the mutations that have lead to a transformation in the balance between producers and consumers.
http://www.ifm-paris.com/asp/fr2/ress_edit_3_5_amateur.asp
Goûts à vendre, essais sur la captation esthétique (Taste for sale, essays on harnessing aesthetics)
edited by Olivier Assouly
At a time when consumption is dropping the functional properties of merchandise in favor of so-called cultural, symbolic, fun, and hedonistic motivations, how is the industrialization of taste dealing with the individual multiplicity of taste ?
http://www.ifm-paris.com/asp/fr2/ress_edit_3_5_gouts.asp
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