Last beret maker in France is struggling to survive
Feb 24, 2014, 06:26 PM
The French beret, once as common in France as baseball caps in America, is in trouble.
French production of the iconic wool hats is in serious decline. France in the 1980s produced several million berets a year, but last year it produced just 160,000.
Recent decades have seen the number of French beret-making factories shrink from 30 to two: Laulhere and Blancq-Olibet. Now Laulhere's acquisition of Blancq-Olibet has cut that number to one.
The BBC's Mark Whittaker speaks to Mark Saunders, head of sales at the only beret factory left in France.