The French know how to live. This is common knowledge. It is also common knowledge that their recipe for life includes a steady diet of incredible wine, bread and cheese. Yet, French producers have a marketing problem. Other places also produce these life essentials. Hence, the need for a party. Lots of parties with French wine and cheese to be exact.
According to The Wall Street Journal, the French Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, along with various wine and cheese producers, is spending around €1.6 million ($2.1 million) to sponsor cocktail parties in 19 countries across the world, including the U.S., Canada and Spain.
To keep the parties affordable, the organizers chose some of France’s less-expensive sparkling white wines, instead of Champagne. France’s Iconic blue Roquefort cheese, which is taxed at 100% when imported into the U.S, was also crossed off the list as being too expensive.
Taste, too, was an issue. Sopexa, the firm helping to organize the parties said pungent cheeses were a little too “scary” for American palates. Enter the milder varieties, such as goat’s cheese and a nutty-flavored hard cheese called Comté.