Mexico is the empire of corn: tortillas, tostadas, tacos... everything is made of corn. But in the last years, the country, especially the capital, Mexico city, has seen a rise in bakery chains where they sell artisanal wheat bread, European style.

After tripping last year over a tax on processed food, including industrial baked goods, consumption of wheat products has been rising to a record 116 million tons, according to the industry group Canainpa, as reported in El País. 

The fastest-growing segment, at 3%, is artisan bread. Nearly 37,000 small bakeries have opened up in the country in recent years.

“These businesses tend to be concentrated in higher-income areas. In the popular neighborhoods, people still eat mostly corn, but this new eating habit is also making inroads, based on slower-fermentation breads that use natural yeast and have a hard crust, following European tastes,” explains Canainpa president Carlos Otegui.

Read the full story in El País.