Food and beverage to France

(Last updated: 05 May 2008)

Trends and opportunities

The market

The French food industry ranks among the world leaders in terms of innovation, technology, research and development and quality.  French consumers are health conscious and are becoming more demanding in terms of quality standards and traceability of products. Australia’s image of a clean and green environment is particularly favourable in this context.

French consumers are ready to pay premium prices for high quality products. Organic supermarkets have taken advantage of this situation and there are good prospects for innovative dietetic, health and organic foods in France. Production of organic food is increasing at a rate of 20–30 per cent annually.

Mergers and alliances between the leading hypermarkets and supermarkets have formed the country’s seven largest retailers with five central buying offices. The trend towards consolidation is growing.

The agri-food sector is the largest industrial sector in France. There are more than 418,000 people who are employed by 4250 food companies, which makes the food sector the largest third industrial employer in France. France ranks among the leading exporters of processed food products worldwide with total exports valued at €27.4 billion.

In terms of food products exported to France:

• Seafood products represent 12.5 per cent of all products
• Meat and meat by-products - 11.9 per cent
• Dairy products - 10.9 per cent
• Oils - 7.8 per cent
• Vegetable and fruit preparations - 7.4 per cent

The French catering and food service sector is growing at a rate of five per cent per year and will keep on expanding for the next five years. It is currently worth A$101 billion and serves more than seven billion meals per year through:

• The Restauration Hors Foyer or ‘outside home meal’ groups
• Community catering (restaurants integrated into companies, schools, hospitals, army, etc.)
• Commercial catering (hotels and restaurants, airline, railway, etc.)

Meat

Quotas are a limiting factor for exports of meat such as beef and lamb to France. Australian exports of meat to France include small volumes of lamb and beef meat and a larger volume of game meat where quotas do not apply. The variety of game meats exported to France from Australia includes kangaroo, ostrich, venison and wild boar.

Fruit and vegetables

High quality products are also in demand – for example, the volume of Australian mangoes exported to France has been increasing steadily for the past two years. There is a market for dried fruit such as sultanas and raisins, which are used in the bakery and pastry sector, as well as opportunities for off-season fruit and vegetables such as:

• strawberries
• peaches
• cherries
• nectarines
• asparagus
• onions

Seafood

The main seafood species imported are prawns, salmon, tuna, scallops, lobsters, crabs, mussels, pollack, angler-fish and cod. Almost 60 per cent of seafood is exported from Europe. Australian seafood distributed to France includes lobster, prawns, scallops, crabs, red emperor and yabbies. The breakdown of the seafood product sector is:

• Fresh and live products – 62.5 per cent
• Frozen products – 27 per cent
• Smoked and dried products – 10.5 per cent

Processed food

Due to the importance of the retail market in France and the development of both community and commercial catering, there are niche markets for quality Australian processed foods with unique characteristics including:

• ready-made meals
• honey
• jams
• canned fruit

Wine

There are about 25 importers of Australian wines in France, with Australian exports of wine to France now at five million litres. Foreign wines in France represent three per cent of the wine market share which allows scope for further development – even in a very competitive market. France is also the world’s number one producer of wine and one-third of French wine (to the value of €5.35 billion) is exported.

Opportunities

The main opportunities in the French food and beverage industry for Australian exporters are:

• wine
• seafood
• meat
• fruit and vegetables
• processed food

Marketing your products and services

Market entry

French retailers rarely buy direct from overseas companies. They usually prefer delegating the logistical aspects to their suppliers. Some recommended methods for selling to French retailers include:

• Apointing a distributor who is already well established in the market
• Sending one of your staff as the representative of your company in the market to look after all the logistics on the spot
• Sharing distribution with another Australian company with a complementary product range

It is recommended that Australian exporters – particularly smaller companies and new exporters – work through importers or wholesalers rather than trying to work directly with supermarkets. Payment terms, listing fees, end of year discounts, price commitments and other restrictions otherwise make it difficult for a company with little cash flow.

Compared to many other countries Australia has an advantage because of the quality of its food products. Any issues raised by importers are generally about the way the products are handled and processed (packaging, logistics, transport, etc.). Other issues include the import duties that apply to some Australian products, which make them more expensive than those from other southern hemisphere countries.

Many French food key players still believe that Australian food companies are more interested in the Asian markets than European markets. The lack of long-term commitment from some Australian companies has led French importers to source products from other competing southern hemisphere countries. However some companies who have invested time and selected the right business partner in the market have achieved some excellent returns on investment.

Distribution channels

The French food retail system is comprised of six categories:

• Hard-discounters (Leader Price, Franprix, Lidl)
• Supermarkets
• Hypermarkets
• City centre stores
• Department stores
• Traditional outlets including ‘magasins de proximité’ or neighbourhood stores and specialised food stores (which account for 25 per cent of all distribution)

There are many different distribution channels in France depending on the products you export and whether these products are for the retail sector, the catering sector or the processing industry. The distribution channels also vary according to the type of products you export – whether they are fresh/live, frozen or ‘grocery’ products.

The mark-ups for Australian exporters are higher for the catering industry and the processing industry than in the retail sector.

Links and industry contacts

Government, business and trade resources for France

Direction de la Concurrence, de la Consommation et de la Répression des Fraudes - www.finances.gouv.fr/DGCCRF
French Agency for the Sanitary Security of Food Products - www.afssa.fr
French Customs - www.finances.gouv.fr/douanes/actu/rapport/bilangl2.pdf
Tradeport – www.tradeport.org