Summary of our market study

Beef consumption in France is estimated at between 1.2 and 1.5 million tonnes per year

The global beef market is expected to reach $1157.55 billion in 2025, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7%. The world cattle herd stands at around 1 billion head.

The United States remains the leading beef producer, with production of 12.6 million tonnes in 2021.

Trends in the French cattle market

France has the largest cattle herd in the European Union.

The French cattle market is experiencing difficulties due to the steady decline in beef consumption, particularly among young consumers, and the impact of ethical concerns. Despite this, France remains Europe's leading cattle-producing country, with 17 to 18 million head of cattle, and between 3 and 4 million dairy cows.

Consumption of prepared meat dishes is on the rise.

The market is also challenged by changing consumer attitudes to animal welfare and environmental concerns.

Organic livestock meat production is a field in which France has taken the lead, with production approaching 85,000 tonnes.

The country is the world's leading exporter of live cattle, with a stable market share of around 11-12%.

French livestock farmers are grouped into cooperatives. There has been a structural decline in the number of farms, from over 215,000 to around 157,000 in 2020.

Producers are caught in a squeeze, with rising feed costs and retail prices that have risen only slightly.

The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) provides subsidies, and laws such as EGALIM II aim to take production costs into account when setting prices.

French cattle market players

  • Agrial: At the forefront of cooperatives is the Agrial group, with an extensive portfolio in animal production, spanning a wide range of sectors.
  • Terrena, Arterie: another significant cooperative
  • Sodiial: Another notable cooperative giant is Sodiaal, a consortium focused on dairy products. .
  • LDC: In the private sector, the LDC group is the market leader in poultry production, and although poultry is the main focus, its involvement in cattle breeding activities generates considerable income.
  • Hendrix Genetics and Grimaud Frères: These entities are dedicated to the genetic selection of animals.
  • Bigard, Charal, Socopa supermarket meat brands

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Summary and extracts

1 Market overview

1.1 Introduction and scope of study

Cattle breeding encompasses all activities involved in the reproduction of bovine breeds for human consumption, particularly in the meat and dairy segments.

As in the rest of the meat and dairy sectors, the French cattle breeding market is experiencing slight difficulties. New consumer habits and the scandals revealed by the L214 association have largely contributed to tarnishing the sector's image.

Yet France is a major breeding ground for cattle, the largest in the European Union. As a result, French operators dominate this market, which is highly regulated at European level, and offer higher value-added products that are more resilient to this downturn in the sector. What's more, intensive livestock farming, with operations involving thousands of cattle, is virtually non-existent in France.

The number of farms has fallen considerably over the past 15 years. Faced with strong deflationary pressures and a structural decline in meat consumption, many small-scale farmers have gone bankrupt, while others have formed producer groups or cooperatives.

As aresult, there has been a marked increase in the number of medium-sized and large farms, which account for almost all French livestock. Farmers generally operate on an individual basis. They may also join cooperatives, which act as producer organizations, responsible for adding value to their members' production. The biggest players, such as Terrena and Agrial, are involved in the entire meat value chain, from breeding to processing.

List of charts presented in this market study

  • Trends and estimates for the global cattle breeding market
  • Distribution of world production by leading cattle breeding countries
  • Trends in the number of cattle worldwide
  • Trends in world beef production
  • Breakdown of world beef production
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Latest news

With ITK, Innoval wants to make data talk to farmers - 27/11/2023
  • Innoval recently acquired ITK, a Hérault-based SME specializing in R&D and artificial intelligence applied to agriculture.
  • Innoval is based in Noyal-sur-Vilaine (Ille-et-Vilaine) and offers services to farmers in the fields of advice, genetics, health protection and reproduction.
  • ITK's digital solutions will be deployed to Innoval's 30,000 member breeders in 26 departments in western France.
  • ITK, founded in 2003, is based in Clapiers (near Montpellier) and also has offices in Rennes and San Francisco.
  • Land O'Lakes, one of the largest dairy cooperatives in the United States, remains a 7% shareholder in ITK.
  • ITK achieved sales of 6.7 million euros in 2022, with 80 employees.
  • Innoval achieved sales of 230 million euros this year, with 1,800 employees.
Sodiaal launches a campaign to support its Candia, Yoplait and Entremont brands - 09/09/2023

Coopérative Sodiaal brings together three major brands: Candia, Yoplait and Entremont. The cooperative brings together 16,000 farmers in 72 départements. The three brands are present in 9 out of 10 households.

Agri-food: Agrial continues to grow after merger with Natura'Pro - 01/06/2023
  • Agrial: first place among French cooperatives
  • Merger with Natura'Pro, agricultural cooperative in the Rhône Valley
  • Agrial: sales of over 7 billion euros by 2022
  • Natura'Pro: sales of 84 million euros in 2022
  • Agrial: 14 agri-food sites in the Alpes Sud-Est region
  • Natura'Pro has stores for agricultural professionals and the general public (under the Gamm Vert banner)
  • Agrial sales doubled in ten years
Yoplait revives thanks to Sodiaal - 04/04/2023
  • Acquisition of Yoplait's European activities by Sodiaal in November 2021.
  • The Yoplait brand was previously owned by General Mills Yoplait generates sales of 650 million euros in Europe, 80% of which in France.
  • Yoplait's 26 franchisees generate total sales of around 1 billion euros.
  • Brand sales up 9.4% by 2022.
  • Tripling of the market share of Yoplait's Icelandic yogurts (skyr), from 10% to 33%.
  • Yoplait sales in France total 510 million euros.
Entremont expands its range of cubed PDO cheeses - 22/03/2023
  • Entremont sales: 900 million euros
  • - Private label share of sales: 47%
  • - Entremont price increase: 25% in one year
  • - New Entremont products in 2027: 25% of sales
  • - Cheese market down 2.8
  • - The company is owned by dairy giant Sodiaal
  • The Sodiaal cooperative has 21 appellations in its cellars, from Roquefort and Saint-Nectaire to Brie de Meaux and Munster
Inflation: milk giant Sodiaal pleads the case for private labels - 07/03/2023
  • Sodiaal, France's leading dairy cooperative (sales of 5.5 billion euros in 2022), is known for its Yoplait, Candia and Entremont brands
  • It also manufactures the private labels of its customers, the major retailers (50% of its production)

Companies quoted in this study

This study contains a complete overview of the companies in the market, with the latest figures and news for each company. :

Agrial Coopérative Primeal
Sodiaal Groupe (Coopérative)
Terrena (Coopérative)
Hendrics Genetics France
Serval
Innoval
Antelliq Allflex (Merck Group)
Celia Cooperative Groupe
Bleu Blanc Coeur

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