The Big Baguette Index

The United States has The Economist’s Big Mac Index to measure purchasing power through burgers, but France now has a more culturally appropriate metric. Enter the Baguette Index, a data project that tracks and analyzes the price of the baguette de tradition to map the true cost of living across l'Hexagone.

How the Data Was Gathered

To map out the geographic variations in the cost of France's most iconic staple, a conversational AI agent named 'Brigitte' was developed. Brigitte was employed to make a staggering 11,190 phone calls over a five-week campaign to reach 5,173 unique bakeries across 147 French municipalities. Despite getting hung up on over 1,400 times, the automated agent successfully engaged in 2,770 complete conversations. The developers were then able to validate and map 1,638 data points, creating the largest public spatial index of French bread prices ever compiled.

Baguette Geography

The data from The Baguette Index reveals that the cost of France’s iconic staple is driven less by ingredients and more by geography. The national median price of a baguette is €1.30; however, in affluent residential enclaves like Neuilly-sur-Seine and Paris’s 3rd arrondissement, prices are significantly higher. Ultimately, the map highlights the 'cost of geography,' showing that a family in Paris might pay €134 more per year for the exact same regulated product than a similar family in Tours.

When Cost is No Object

For those who care more about quality than price, the map also includes a Google Rating filter. This allows users to refine the selection of boulangeries based on their crowdsourced scores, effectively creating what the developers call the "Matrix of the Crumb." By cross-referencing cost with these ratings users can discover "prestige" locations - high-priced, high-quality bakeries - as well as "Gems", which offer top-tier quality baguettes at or below the national median price.