AI calls nearly every bakery in France to learn the price of a baguette

Data from over 5,000 bakeries were used to compile the Big Baguette Index.

As the US has The Economist’s Big Mac Index to measure purchasing power through burgers, Charles and Louis-Marie Lorin, two brothers from Montreal, decided to make a more culturally appropriate metric for France, according to 20minutes.

After all, the traditional loaf was added to UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage list in 2022, and 30 million baguettes are consumed in France every day.

Therefore, the Lorin brothers, who both work in AI but don’t have a background in engineering, created a conversational AI agent, which they named “Brigitte.”

Over a five-week period, the AI agent reached out to 5,173 bakeries in 146 towns and cities across France to collect the price of a traditional baguette.

Despite getting hung up on over 1,400 times, “Brigitte” successfully engaged in 2,770 complete conversations. This allowed the developers to validate and map 1,638 data points, creating the Big Baguette Index.

The Lorin brothers say the index is the most comprehensive study currently available on the price of traditional baguettes, which is “16 times larger than a previous one conducted in 2024.”

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The index reveals that the national median price of a baguette is €1.30 ($1.51). However, in affluent areas like Neuilly-sur-Seine and Paris’s 3rd arrondissement, the prices are significantly higher.

The Lorin brothers told the French media that they hope to one day map the entire country.

“But for now it’s up to the bakers and consumers to continue the study by indicating the price of their traditional baguette and their bakery on the website,” Charles Lorin is cited by 20minutes.

Earlier this year, a London-based American AI engineer, Matt Cortland, created an AI voice agent, “Rachel,” which called over 3,000 pubs across all 32 counties in Ireland to inquire about the price of a pint of Guinness.

“Rachel” managed to get responses from over 1,000 pubs, resulting in the creation of the “Guinndex.”

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