The delicatessen market - France

The global delicatessen and gastronomy market, valued at around 45 billion euros in 2020 according to Bain, has slowed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The decline was attributed to restaurant closures and a drop in tourism. However, the segment has shown resilience compared to the overall luxury market, with expectations of a rapid recovery supported by positive consumer trends towards quality, organic and label products.

In France, the delicatessen market was sensitive to the economic situation and factors such as fluctuations in tourism. As for e-commerce, the sector experienced growth, with new entrants and established players expanding their offer through various strategies. Agricultural production has shifted towards quality, with a growing share of labelled products, with organic production capturing a larger share of the market, reaching 9.5% of French farmland and 12% of farms committed to organic production by 2020. Despite the challenges, delicatessen products remain an essential part of French lifestyles, particularly during vacation periods.

Overview of delicatessen market dynamics

In recent years, the French market has seen a perceptible shift in consumer habits, with a penchant for quality, organic and label products, reflecting a sophisticated art of living. Demand for delicatessen products, while showing a significant seasonal character with peaks during the festive season, has steadily increased. However, the delicatessen market has faced its share of challenges, with events such as terrorist attacks and social unrest affecting tourism and, consequently, luxury delicatessen houses. The effects of the pandemic also led to a decline in the luxury food segment.

An interesting counterbalance to this decline, however, was noted in the rise in consumption of fine products - a testament to the resilience of the market and the consumer's unwavering pursuit of quality. French consumer habits reveal a nuanced picture. Food expenditure shows cautious growth, with modest marginal percentage increases, indicating a clear desire among French consumers for better quality over quantity - partly due to health concerns arising from food scandals and demographic changes in the country.

On average, French households spend around 112 euros a week on food, with meat and fruit each accounting for a quarter of the food budget. What's more, nearly half of French people are increasingly aware of their preference for products made in France, and nearly a quarter of them favor regional production. This growing awareness in consumer choices is also having an impact on demand for organic products, as evidenced by the fact that the market for organic products has doubled in the space of five years.

Organic farming now covers over 2.55 million hectares, or around 9.5% of France's agricultural land, which is promising for those investing in sustainable, quality products. Demand for delicatessen products, such as foie gras and smoked fish, shows a decline in volume coupled with a steady rise in prices, underlining a high-end positioning in the market where quality takes precedence over quantity or price pressure.

The growth observed in the condiments and seasonings segment corroborates the trend towards more upmarket products, with oils leading the market estimated at around 3.55 billion euros. The spirits market, for its part, seems to be holding up well, with growth of 19% in value terms. The French delicatessen market is a colorful tapestry woven by a variety of players.the French delicatessen market is a colorful tapestry woven by a variety of players, each contributing to the richness and diversity of gourmet offerings that appeal to consumers' discerning tastes.

The market features a range of players, from iconic luxury houses to innovative online marketplaces, as well as traditional agricultural producers who have embraced the organic wave.

Here, we profile the key players who have helped define the French delicatessen scene.

• L'Epicerie Fine Italienne is one of the rising stars of the online delicatessen sector. It has captured the ever-growing e-commerce market by offering a range of Italian food products. It represents the segment of e-tailers who have adapted to digital change by creating gourmet gift sets and specialty assortments that cater to the modern consumer's love of convenience and quality.
  
  
• Pourdebon is a French start-up that has made a name for itself with its online marketplace dedicated to gastronomy and high-end food products. Founded in 2016, Pourdebon connects consumers directly with producers and artisans, focusing on the short supply chain for a more authentic farm-to-table experience.
  
  
• Fauchon and Comtesse du Barry are among the prestigious traditional delicatessen houses that enjoy a strong brand image and have withstood fierce competition. These veterans maintain their relevance by broadening their offer, targeting new customer categories, adopting innovative distribution formats such as e-commerce, and expanding their geographic markets.
  
  
• Caviar Kaspia and Maison de la Truffe are outstanding examples of luxury delicatessens that have diversified their reach by adopting a "web-to-store" retail approach, seeking to attract customers from the online sphere to their physical outlets, where personal encounters with gastronomic delights create unparalleled customer experiences.
  
  
• Caviar de Neuvic is an example of this category of players who, while specializing in luxury products such as caviar, have taken advantage of restaurant and retail delivery platforms such as Deliveroo and Epicery. They have expanded their visibility and provided additional fast delivery services to meet the needs of high-end customers looking for convenience.
  
  
• Albert Menès is another major player using both the distance-selling model and the web-to-store approach. It has a nationwide presence and uses its web presence to guide customers to its stores, where an immersive gastronomic adventure awaits.
  
  
• Le Comptoir Gourmet is part of the ecosystem of third-party platforms and leverages these means to enhance its visibility and meet consumer demands for ultra-fast delivery, thus increasing access to products and services from the European Union

Inforamtion

• Number of pages : 30 pages
• Format : Digital and PDF versions
• Last update : 07/01/2022

Summary and extracts

List of charts

• The luxury food market
• Turnover of products under label
• Growth in sales of other food retail stores in specialized stores
• Turnover before tax of the production marketed under SIQO
• Food budget per week in the household
• Consumption structure by household standard of living
• Annual changes in French household food expenditures
• Variation in food consumption
• Distribution of household expenditures by type of food products
• Factors influencing the purchase decision on food labels
• Consideration of the following criteria in the eating habits of the French
• Compared to 3 years ago, do you feel that you are using more or less of each of the following
• Evolution of the budget devoted to organic food products
• Evolution of the interest for the search term "delicatessen
• Evolution of the turnover index of 47.29Z
• Annual evolution of the price of duck foie gras
• Evolution of smoked fish purchases
• Share of smoked fish purchases
• Condiments and Seasonings Producer Price Index
• Consumption of condiments and seasonings
• Consumer Price Index for sugar, jam, honey, chocolate and confectionery
• Consumer price index for coffee, tea and cocoa
• Consumer Price Index for Wine
• Evolution of the consumption of smoked fish and salmon
• Average expenditure per visitor
• Average length of stay per visitor
• Share of average tourist spending on food