Michelin
The French company Michelin is primarily a tyre manufacturer. It invented the radial design used by nearly all modern tyres. Michelin also publishes a popular series of road maps and travel guides. Michelin is based in the town of Clermont-Ferrand in the Auvergne region of France.
Michelin's activities date back to 1830 in the vulcanized caoutchouc, then tyres for bicycles later for cars. Michelin owned the automobile manufacturer Citroën between 1934 and 1976.
The current CEO is Edouard Michelin.
The Michelin Man
The company identifies itself with the Michelin Man, which was introduced in 1898 and is one of the world's oldest trademarks. André Michelin apparently commissioned the creation of this jolly, rotund figure after his brother, Édouard, observed that a display of stacked tyres resembled a human form. Today the "Michelin Man" is one of the world's most recognized trademarks, representing Michelin in over 150 countries. The Michelin Man's real nickname is the Bibendum, from the latin sentence Nunc est bibendum ("Now, we must drink it") used as a slogan by Michelin in the early 20th century: the tyres were supposed to "drink" the road and give a smooth ride.
The Hotel and Restaurant guide ("Red Guide")
Founder André Michelin (January 16 1853 - April 4 1931) first published in 1900 a restaurant guide to help wealthy, gastronomically-oriented individuals choose hotels and restaurants while travelling by the new medium of the motor car. This guide is the oldest and best-known European hotel and restaurant guide. Its restaurant ratings (one to three Michelin stars) are probably the most famous and influential gastronomic ratings in the world. The guide lists, in several volumes, restaurants in France, Italy, Spain, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, and the UK. Each guide is generally only available in the language of the country for which it is published. Although hotels appear in the guide, including some without restaurants, it is generally perceived as a restaurant guide.
The Michelin Guide has historically had many more listings than its rival guides, relying on condensed summaries and symbols to describe each establishment in as little as two lines. Restaurants rated with a star were allowed to describe three signature dishes. Recently, however, very short summaries (2-3 lines) have been added for many establishments. It still manages to list a lot of places, e.g. 9000 in France.
The Red Guide uses anonymous inspections and does not charge for entries; conversely a majority of restaurant and hotel guides are little more than advertising opportunities for their clients.
Michelin stars are taken very seriously in the restaurant business, where the addition or loss of a star can mean a difference in turnover of millions of euros. It should be noted that not all listed restaurants are rated 1-3 stars. Most have none at all, and only a tiny fraction are considered to merit even one star. Some three star restaurants are able to charge hundreds of dollars for a meal on the strength of their reputation.
In February, 2003, a prominent French chef, Bernard Loiseau, committed suicide when his widely-admired restaurant Côte d'Or in Saulieu, Burgundy, was rumoured to be in danger of a downgrade by Michelin from three to two stars. However, most news reports attributed this suicide to a downgrade by the rival Gault Millau guide, the Michelin guide having stated he would not be downgraded.
Michelin also publish other works including maps and the "Green Guides" which contain general tourist information and are updated less often than the Red Guides.
See also: List of French companies
