Localizing ethnic entrepreneurship: “Chinese” chips shops in Belgium, “traditional” food culture, and transnational migration in Europe

ABSTRACT

This article explores the causes, dynamics, and theoretical implications of the “localization” of ethnic entrepreneurship through “traditional” food businesses in Europe. Based on fieldwork conducted in 2014 and 2017, it analyses the emergence of “Chinese” chips shops in the Flemish province of Antwerp, Belgium. Highlighting the history of Chinese migration to Europe, it argues that a specific set of “contexts of exit” and “contexts of reception” explain this development. Important among these are Dutch language skills and long-term residence or citizenship in the Netherlands and Belgium, market saturation, and the global financial crisis of 2007–2008. The article posits that these Chinese entrepreneurs are neither “enclave entrepreneurs” nor a “middleman minority”: entering a “traditional” food sector, they must leverage on their “integration capital”. However, with this, they also become entangled in Belgian gastronationalism and gastropolitics. Finally, this “localization” also has a transnational dimension as many of these entrepreneurs re-migrated from the Netherlands.

KEYWORDS:

• Ethnic entrepreneurship
• localization
• “Chinese” chips shops in Belgium
• “traditional” food culture
• Chinese in Europe
• transnational migration

Acknowledgements

The author expresses thanks to Bernard Lefèvre, Eddy van Belle, and the Chinese chips shop holders in the region of Antwerp for patiently answering questions. The author further thanks the two anonymous reviewers of Ethnic and Racial Studies for the constructive criticism. Thanks also goes out to Gregor Benton for the suggestion to consider this phenomenon within a broader European context. Finally, the author thanks An van Dongen for first bringing this topic to her attention.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

ORCID

Els van Dongen http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2342-0932

Notes

1 The word “chips Iranian” (friet Iraniër) did appear in the newspaper De Morgen on 6 June 2015 when an Iranian entrepreneur tried to buy several chips shops in the city of Leuven.

2 According to the Navefri website, there were 4643 chips shops in Belgium in 2016. See http://www.navefri-unafri.be/nl/de-frietkotcultuur/frietkotcultuur-in-cijfers. Accessed 26 June 2018.

3 To protect the identity of the interviewees, I only include the location of the chips shop where the interview was held.

4 The shortage of Chinese chefs was not only an issue in the Netherlands, but also in, for example, Germany, because of restrictive employment policies. See Leung 2002.

5 January 2016 witnessed the introduction of a registered cashier system (geregistreerd kassasysteem, GKS), also referred to as “white cashier” (witte kassa), required if the turnover from restaurant and catering (excluding drinks) constituted at least ten percent of the total turnover. As of July 2016, the white cashier was required in those businesses that had a turnover of more than 25.000 euros per year for locally consumed meals (Royal Decree nr. 1, new art. 21 bis, § 1).

6 Based on 2016 data from VLAM, over 60% of the Flemish population ate chips at least on a weekly basis. Around half of this (52%) was consumed outdoors or purchased. “Frietkotcultuur in Cijfers” [Chips Shop Culture in Numbers], http://www.navefri-unafri.be/nl/de-frietkotcultuur/frietkotcultuur-in-cijfers. Accessed 12 July 2018.

7 The “raw frying” has recently led to debate because the EU has tried to ban acrylamide from food products.

8 The stakeholders from the chips sector include Navefri, VLAM (Flemish Center for Agro and Fisheries Marketing), ApaqW (Walloon Agency for the Promotion of Quality Agriculture), Syntra (which provides training for entrepreneurs), Belgapom (Belgian Potato Trade and Processing Industry Association), Unizo (Union of Self-Employed Entrepreneurs), and the Boerenbond (Farmers’ League, a professional association of farmers). From the heritage sector, it includes CAG (Centre for Agrarian History), the Chips Museum, and the Erfgoedcel (Heritage Department).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Nanyang Technological University [Grant number M4081271].