1.1 Definition and scope of the study

Dried fruits can be divided into two categories: fruits that are naturally devoid of water and fruits that are artificially dried. In the first category are oilseeds (almonds, walnuts, hazelnuts, pine nuts, pistachios), fleshy fruits (goji berries, cranberries) and seeds (sunflower, flax, chia, pumpkin...). In the second category are fruits such as grapes, bananas, apricots or prunes

Dried fruits can be consumed directly, in which case they are sold in bulk or in bags with the possibility of having assortments, and they can also be used as an ingredient in cooking, for pastries or to season salads for example

Dried fruits are full of nutrients such as carbohydrates, lipids and vitamins. These different nutrients have different health benefits, such as being a source of energy or having a satiating effect. Dried fruits are also natural foods that can be consumed without being processed. These different aspects appeal to the French because they correspond to new consumer trends.

Dried fruits are produced and consumed all over the world and each country has its own specialties, for example the United States produces 76% of the world's almonds and Turkey 62% of the world's hazelnuts, and besides that, China consumes the most peanuts in the world and India consumes the most cashew nuts

As far as France is concerned, the leading brands on the French market are Mondial fruits secs, Maitre Prunille and private labels. One of France's strengths in the dried fruit market is its prune production, which will rank third in the world in 2020. French prunes have the IGP (Protected Geographical Indication) designation for the Agen prune and are the most consumed dried fruit in France. Unfortunately, due to bad weather conditions, the year 2021 has been more complicated for French producers who had to harvest the prunes prematurely, which may cause the annual production to drop by 62.5% compared to 2020

The dried fruit market in France saw a 2.7% decline in 2019, but several factors are tending to revitalise it, such as the increase in the consumption of organic and bulk products. Several brands offer organic products now, such as the Seeberger company, which launched its organic range in 2019, to keep the market attractive.

1.2 The global market

The dried fruit market is made up of many fruits, as explained in the introduction, each fruit is produced, exported and imported to different countries. But according to the INC (***), in ****, **,***,*** tons of dried fruit will be produced in the world, here are the * most produced dried fruits in the ...

1.3 The domestic market

In France, in **** the dried fruit market turnover is ***.* million euros for a volume of **,*** tons and the leading brands are private labels, Maitre Prunille, Color Foods and Daco Bello.

Sales development of the dried fruits market between **** and **** France, ****-****, millions of euros Source: ****

The market experienced a slowdown over ...

2.1 Dried fruits, a food that seduces for its benefits

Dried fruits are becoming more and more attractive for various reasons

They are good for your health because they are full of nutrients and vitamins. Scientific studies have shown that eating dried fruit can reduce the risk of certain cancers.In ****, the Dried Fruit Intake and Cancer study on this topic ...

2.2 A variety of uses and products

Market share by value of dried fruit categories France, ****, percentage Source: ****

We can see that dried fruits have multiple uses and that they all have equal appeal, except for dried fruit baskets, which represent only a tiny part.

Change in per capita consumption of the main dried fruits in France between ...

2.3 Bulk, a distribution channel that is gaining ground and growing the dried fruit market

The bulk market in France represented *.* billion euros in sales in ****, a **% year-on-year increase [***]. How to explain such growth?

Here are the different reasons that can explain the popularity of bulk - For the preservation of the environment by reducing packaging - To be able to focus on the quality and ...

2.4 The French are changing their eating habits: organic, local and healthy products are favoured

In ****, many French people say they want to be careful about what they eat, here is what they want to be careful about

More responsible eating: what the French say France, ****, percentage Source: ****

These results show the intentions of the French to pay attention to what they eat, intentions that were ...

3.1 Being a producer of dried fruits, France is the master of prunes and nuts

France is a major producer of prunes and nuts :

The Agen prune owes the PGI designation (***). In a few figures, according to agriculture.gouv **** : - **,*** tonnes of Agen prunes PGI are produced each year - **,*** producers harvest Ente plums - The surface area of the French orchard is **,*** hectares - **% of ...

3.2 Specialists in the processing, packaging and trading of dried fruit

The dried fruits, once collected, are sold to processors who take care of transforming, packaging and reselling these dried fruits To understand how the transformation process takes place and which actors are involved in this process, Color Food has published an explanation diagram :

Here is the detailed process *. The incoming goods ...

3.3 Distribution

Dried fruit is sold in supermarkets, organic stores, bulk stores and online. We can therefore see that there are many distribution channels for dried fruit, which are the same as those for the food industry in general.

It should be noted that food e-commerce is no longer a niche since in ...

4.1 Technical details of dried fruit

Table summarizing the nutrients present in the main dried fruits

Source: ****

Oilseeds are rich in proteins, lipids, fibres, but also in nutrients such as calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, potassium, zinc, selenium, iron, and vitamins B*, B*, and E. The fibres help to facilitate intestinal transit. However, care must be taken as dried ...

4.2 Dried fruit prices in France

Here is an idea of the prices of the main dried fruits. Prices may vary depending on whether the product is organic or produced in France

Source: ****

4.3 Trend: factors to watch out for to remain attractive

As we have already said, consumer habits are changing and this has an impact on the dried fruit market.

The French are paying attention to plastic packaging.

As shown in the graph, **% of French people want to reduce plastic packaging and overpackaged products. However, dried fruits, when not sold in bulk, ...

5.1 Various controls: "Hygiene package", health framework and DCGRF

The distribution of fruit and vegetables is strictly regulated by European health regulations for the food industry. In ****, a standardized regulation came into force for the different States of the European Union, known as the "hygiene package". This regulation governs the whole activity of the sector and its actors: producers, distributors ...

5.2 Harmonized World Customs System

The World Customs Harmonized System is an international nomenclature for the classification of goods. It allows participating countries to classify traded goods on a common basis for customs purposes [***] Here are some examples of codes for dried fruits:

- ********* for prunes, dried - ****** for mixtures of edible dried fruits or nuts ...

5.3 PGI and PDO designations

The Protected Geographical Indication (***), at least one stage in the production, processing or preparation of the product must take place in the defined geographical area The PGI is linked to a know-how, it is not created, it consecrates an existing production and confers to it a protection at the national but ...