Starbucks Adapts To Gallic Tastes In Growth Quest

By Lionel Laurent

PARIS | Thu May 27, 2010 9:49am EDT

(Reuters) - Coffee chain Starbucks Corp is changing its ways in France and trying to adapt to the local palate as it tries to break with past losses.

The group's French outlets have recently started to offer well-known local fare like the "cafe gourmand" -- a single shot of espresso served with three delicate pastries including a mango macaroon.

It is a far cry from the 12-ounce cups of American coffee and chunky muffins that made Starbucks a worldwide brand, but after years of losses in France the $20 billion group is having to make concessions to the local cafe culture.

Achieving international success in markets like continental Europe and Asia is seen as crucial for Starbucks as it seeks to drive growth outside a saturated home market.

"We in France don't drink coffee all day long and flavored coffee is not in our culture," said Bernard Boutboul, head of food retail consultancy Gira Conseil.

Starbucks needed to "Gallicise" its menu if it wanted to succeed in France, Boutboul said.

(Read on...)

Rural Mayor Set To Head Credit Agricole

By Lionel Laurent and Matthieu Protard

PARIS, May 18 (Reuters) - French bank Credit Agricole (CAGR.PA) is widely expected to name rural mayor Jean-Marie Sander as chairman on Wednesday amid tough economic times.

The bank is under pressure to reassure investor confidence after missing first-quarter profit expectations on the back of rising loan provisions in Greece.

Sander, a 60-year-old farmer who is also mayor of the small commune in the northeastern Alsace region where he was born, will be the last key appointment in Credit Agricole's management overhaul as it seeks to turn the page on the financial crisis.

A more reserved figure than outgoing chairman Rene Carron, who has reached the age limit of 67, Sander's strong ties to the Alsace region and his family's farming origins mark a symbolic return to Credit Agricole's agricultural roots after the crisis.

"It's clear Sander is a big backer of the agricultural cooperative model and its values," said a colleague of Sander's, who said the mayor brewed his own hops and sold them through a cooperative.

(Read on...)