French baguettes get UNESCO heritage status | The Business Standard
Skip to main content
  • Latest
  • Economy
    • Banking
    • Stocks
    • Industry
    • Analysis
    • Bazaar
    • RMG
    • Corporates
    • Aviation
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
The Business Standard

Wednesday
June 11, 2025

Sign In
Subscribe
  • Latest
  • Economy
    • Banking
    • Stocks
    • Industry
    • Analysis
    • Bazaar
    • RMG
    • Corporates
    • Aviation
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 11, 2025
French baguettes get UNESCO heritage status

Europe

BSS/AFP
01 December, 2022, 10:55 am
Last modified: 01 December, 2022, 11:00 am

Related News

  • Two dead, 192 injured and 500 arrested in France during PSG win celebrations
  • France's Macron calls for Asian coalitions as he warns of US-China divisions
  • France may toughen stance on Israel if it continues blocking Gaza aid, Macron says
  • Macron decorates Indonesia leader before Buddhist temple visit
  • Macron navigates rocky path to recognising Palestinian state

French baguettes get UNESCO heritage status

BSS/AFP
01 December, 2022, 10:55 am
Last modified: 01 December, 2022, 11:00 am
Photo: Collected
Photo: Collected

The French baguette -- "250 grams of magic and perfection", in the words of President Emmanuel Macron, and one of the abiding symbols of the nation -- was given UNESCO heritage status on Wednesday.

The bread, with its crusty exterior and soft middle, has remained a quintessential part of French life long after other stereotypes like berets and strings of garlic have fallen by the wayside.

More than six billion are baked every year in France, according to the National Federation of French Bakeries, and the UN agency's "intangible cultural heritage status" honours the tradition.

The Business Standard Google News Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel

"It celebrates a whole culture: the daily ritual, a structural element of a meal, synonymous with sharing and conviviality," said UNESCO director-general Audrey Azoulay.

Speaking from Washington during a visit to the United States, Macron praised the UNESCO recognition of French "know-how".

"This is something inimitable," he said.

The baguette's newfound status comes at a challenging time for the industry.

France has been losing around 400 artisanal bakeries per year since 1970, from 55,000 (one per 790 residents) to 35,000 today (one per 2,000).

The decline is due to the spread of industrial bakeries and out-of-town supermarkets in rural areas, while urbanites increasingly opt for sourdough, and swap their ham baguettes for burgers.

At least one artisan was unimpressed with the award at a time when his colleagues are struggling with spiking prices.

"It's a joke," said Francois Pozzoli, an award-winning baker in the major city of Lyon.

"At a time when baking is in an unprecedented crisis, this feels poorly timed. Flour is up 10-15 percent, butter around 40 percent, eggs 50-60 percent... Bakers need support."

Honeycomb and cream

Still, it remains an entirely common sight to see the French with a couple of sticks under their arm, ritually chewing off the warm end as they leave the bakery, or "boulangerie".

There are national competitions, during which the bread is sliced down the middle to allow judges to evaluate the regularity of its honeycomb texture as well as the colour of the interior, which should be cream.

But despite being a seemingly immortal fixture in French life, the baguette only officially got its name in 1920, when a new law specified its minimum weight (80 grams) and maximum length (40 centimetres).

"Initially, the baguette was considered a luxury product. The working classes ate rustic breads that kept better," said Loic Bienassis, of the European Institute of Food History and Cultures, who helped prepare the UNESCO dossier.

"Then consumption became widespread, and the countryside was won over by baguettes in the 1960s and '70s," he said.

Its earlier history is rather uncertain.

Some say long loaves were already common in the 18th century; others that it took the introduction of steam ovens by Austrian baker August Zang in the 1830s for its modern incarnation to take shape.

One popular tale is that Napoleon ordered bread to be made in thin sticks that could be more easily carried by soldiers.

Another links baguettes to the construction of the Paris metro in the late 19th century, and the idea that baguettes were easier to tear up and share, avoiding arguments between the workers and the need for knives.

France submitted its request to UNESCO in early 2021, with baguettes chosen over the zinc roofs of Paris and a wine festival in Arbois in the east of the country.

World+Biz

France / Unesco / Baguettes

Comments

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderation decisions are subjective. Published comments are readers’ own views and The Business Standard does not endorse any of the readers’ comments.

Top Stories

  • Maintaining a cordial relationship between patients and doctors at this tense time of an ongoing pandemic is more important than ever before. Photo: Mumit M
    Covid-19 testing to resume at hospitals amid rising infections
  • Members of law enforcement work to clear the area, as protests against federal immigration sweeps continue, in downtown Los Angeles, California, US June 10, 2025. Photo: REUTERS
    US cities brace for more protests as parts of Los Angeles placed under curfew
  • Chief Adviser Professor Dr Muhammad Yunus (L) and British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer (R). Photo: BSS
    UK PM visiting Canada, will meet CA if schedule matches: CA press secy

MOST VIEWED

  • Illustration: Duniya Jahan/ TBS
    Forget Katy Perry, here’s Bangladesh’s Ruthba Yasmin shooting for the moon
  • A file photo of Bangladesh Bank Governor Dr Ahsan H Mansur. Photo: Collected
    'I have no relation with this': Ahsan Mansur debunks Joy’s allegations over daughter’s Dubai flat
  • Faiz Ahmad Tayeb. Photo: BSS
    Import duty on raw materials for e-bikes, lithium batteries reduced from 80% to 1% in some cases: Faiz Taiyeb
  • Screengrab from video shows a group of local youths forcing tourists to leave a tourist spot in Utmachhra area of Sylhet's Companiganj on Sunday, 8 June 2025, citing allegations of obscene activities and environmental damage
    Locals declare tourist spot in Sylhet 'closed', force visitors to leave
  • Shakil Ahmed. Photo: Collected
    DU student allegedly hangs himself following threats over old derogatory comment about Prophet on Facebook
  • Photo shows the Land Cruiser Prado car belonging to former member of parliament (MP) Anwarul Azim Anar found in Kushtia. Photo: TBS
    Luxury car of ex-AL MP Anar, who was killed in Kolkata, found in Kushtia

Related News

  • Two dead, 192 injured and 500 arrested in France during PSG win celebrations
  • France's Macron calls for Asian coalitions as he warns of US-China divisions
  • France may toughen stance on Israel if it continues blocking Gaza aid, Macron says
  • Macron decorates Indonesia leader before Buddhist temple visit
  • Macron navigates rocky path to recognising Palestinian state

Features

Illustration: Duniya Jahan/ TBS

Forget Katy Perry, here’s Bangladesh’s Ruthba Yasmin shooting for the moon

17h | Features
File photo of Eid holidaymakers returning to the capital from their country homes/Rajib Dhar

Dhaka: The city we never want to return to, but always do

2d | Features
Photo collage shows political posters in Bagerhat. Photos: Jannatul Naym Pieal

From Sheikh Dynasty to sibling rivalry: Bagerhat signals a turning tide in local politics

3d | Bangladesh
Illustration: TBS

Unbearable weight of the white coat: The mental health crisis in our medical colleges

6d | Panorama

More Videos from TBS

Curfew ordered in downtown Los Angeles after looting and vandalism

Curfew ordered in downtown Los Angeles after looting and vandalism

11m | TBS World
Israel kidnapped me in international waters: Greta Thunberg

Israel kidnapped me in international waters: Greta Thunberg

1h | TBS World
Is the chief adviser's meeting with the British Prime Minister uncertain?

Is the chief adviser's meeting with the British Prime Minister uncertain?

2h | TBS Stories
Aviation giants Airbus, Menzies seek long-time partnership with Bangladesh

Aviation giants Airbus, Menzies seek long-time partnership with Bangladesh

2h | TBS Stories
EMAIL US
contact@tbsnews.net
FOLLOW US
WHATSAPP
+880 1847416158
The Business Standard
  • About Us
  • Contact us
  • Sitemap
  • Advertisement
  • Privacy Policy
  • Comment Policy
Copyright © 2025
The Business Standard All rights reserved
Technical Partner: RSI Lab

Contact Us

The Business Standard

Main Office -4/A, Eskaton Garden, Dhaka- 1000

Phone: +8801847 416158 - 59

Send Opinion articles to - oped.tbs@gmail.com

For advertisement- sales@tbsnews.net