Bread and circuses

When I was writing my dissertation about Maltese planning legislation some 10 years ago, I thought it was an interesting subject, but not wildly exciting. As I tapped away about effective enforcement, public consultation and planning appeals, I never imagined the planning process could provide us with the entertainment that the St John Co-Cathedral saga has thrown our way.

I observed the way the debate has turned into a peculiarly Maltese soap opera complete with the obligatory name-calling, big lugs of politics and the transformation of all involved into star roles.

In the course of this latter-day Ipokriti soap, the objecting NGOs were cast as the 'Sliema Mob', Richard Cachia Caruana was promoted to 'Unelected Prime Minister' and the members of St John's Foundation became 'The Mild-Mannered Monsignors'.

Those who were in favour of the excavations are the 'Angst-Ridden Angries' annoyed at the loss of EU funds which may not be lost after all.

To these, I feel I must add the 'Knights of the Environment Impact Assessment' (EIA). They're the ones lamenting the thwarting of the planning process by the uninformed masses and sobbing about the lack of studies. Among the ranks of the knights, Fr Joe Borg says he will mourn the abolition of EIAs, and architect Alex Torpiano makes a plea for rationality - and EIAs.

Which is all very well, except for the fact that this new found zeal for EIAs was very much lacking when the Fort Cambridge mega-project was being considered by the Malta Environment and Planning Authority.

I don't recall the same impassioned cries for an EIA then (it was carried out when an EU infringement was registered and after the outline permit was granted) - and no crocodile tears about the end of due process as we know it. Perhaps the knights had not yet convened at that point.

• I hope news that the price of Maltese bread is set to increase will not be greeted by the predictable groans about inflation, and "what is the world coming to?" wails.

If it takes the tiny increase suggested (a mere six cents) to ensure local bakers keep on baking our hobza, then so be it. Considering the way the price of fuel has soared, and that wheat has also become more expensive, the move is needed to cover bakers' expenses.

It would appear to be a logical step for them. However, after reading an interview with the president of the Bakers Cooperative Raymond Briffa, I sense that the bakers are doing this with a sense of pessimism about the future of Maltese bread.

Briffa says that demand for it is falling. Baguettes and buns have barged into the market and 'fancy bread' is becoming the sandwich slab of choice for busy families.

Faced with such stiff competition, and with consumers more taken up with the credit crunch than the crunchy texture of Maltese bread, it is no wonder local bakers feel so despondent about the future.

I can't help feeling that not all is lost though - and that with better marketing techniques, the demand for the hobza will increase. To date, more importance has been placed upon keeping the price of Maltese bread low, than on any other of its unique selling points. This dogged insistence on selling it for cents has distracted its makers from highlighting its excellent taste and texture or even its cultural significance.

Instead of emphasising the characteristics which make Maltese bread different - and in some cases, preferable - to other types of bread, the bakers have tried to compete by making it as similar to its mass-produced competitors. So in came the sliced Maltese loaf encased in a plastic bag - a sure-fire way of destroying its texture and turning a good quality product into a mediocre copy of those bland, sliced loaves.

Apparently, the government has helped out with an advertising campaign about the health benefits of Maltese bread, but I have not seen much evidence of it. That's another thing that the marketing men didn't get quite right.

I'm assuming that they're men, because women would have been aware of the fact that it's a carb-phobic world we're living in. You can preach about the higher level of proteins found in Maltese bread compared with other types which don't use hard wheat, but you simply won't convince women that bread is healthy (for which read 'non-fattening').

In the post-Atkins world, carbohydrates are the devil. Bread has tons. There is no way a marketing campaign promoting carb-heavy bread is going to be successful. It would be like trying to sell ice-cream as a cool, healthy snack.

Consumers won't buy it for that reason. They might be tempted, if Maltese bread was promoted as a delicious bread which is too good to pass up, diets be damned.

Now bakers may insist that such a marketing exercise would be too difficult and prefer leaning on the government for further subsidies. But the marketing and distribution of traditional bread - previously considered to be too local and too basic - has been extremely successfully.

In Paris, Lionel Poilane set up a massive bakery which prepares its speciality - le pain Poilane - a round loaf weighing 1.9 kg made from grey flour, sea salt and dough left over from the previous batch. It retails for about eight euros, and is exported all round the world. Queues of customers often snake round the corner of the bakery. Robert de Niro and Catherine Deneuve often buy the bread and a Poilane bakery opened in London.

If this can be done for the Poilane loaf, why not for the Maltese hobza?

cl.bon@nextgen.net.mt