The food security market - France

France's food safety market, emblematic of its commitment to culinary quality, has seen dynamic trends and regulatory developments since 2020. In particular, the market has seen a significant increase in inspection activities. At the same time, consumer confidence in farmers stands at an impressive 82%, reflecting confidence in food safety. These trends are mirrored globally, where the food safety testing market is expected to grow from $21.1 billion in 2022 to $31.1 billion in 2027, with an average annual growth rate of 8.1%.

Technological advances and heightened food safety concerns following the COVID-19 affair are driving this demand. France's robust system, with a network of 14,000 veterinary health inspectors and 5,000 inspectors supervising over 900,000 agricultural and food establishments, has resulted in consistent control practices and the implementation of the EGAlim law, which emphasizes balanced trade relations in agriculture and healthy, sustainable food options.

In addition, the increasing use of technologies, such as blockchain for traceability, illustrates the market's progressive response to growing demands for transparency.

France's growing demand for food safety and organic products

The French food safety market reflects the country's long-standing commitment to gastronomic excellence and food quality. Indications from recent studies describe a country where consumer demand for traceable and organic products is gaining momentum, with the organic market enjoying significant double-digit growth. Technological advances, particularly in digital traceability, are revolutionizing the way consumers access information on the origin and processing of food products - a trend amplified in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The rise in consumer concerns about transparency and safety has been accompanied by rigorous national controls. France boasts a robust food safety system, employing between 10,000 and 20,000 veterinarians and inspectors, who collectively oversee a vast network of farms and food establishments, numbering in the hundreds of thousands. These entities are subject to meticulous inspections, and the record number of health checks reported in recent years testifies to France's unwavering vigilance when it comes to food safety.

Interestingly, the trend observed in 2021 and 2022 shows a French market that is more active than ever in the fight against food contamination. Despite slight variations in the figures, there appears to be a general increase in the number of inspections, particularly with regard to the regulation of imports from third countries. During this period, the number of batches inspected rose from around 90,000 to over 220,000, with rejections also peaking, suggesting an intensification of surveillance by the authorities.

In addition, hundreds of thousands of samples are analyzed every year, focusing mainly on physico-chemical contaminants in animal production, demonstrating the comprehensive nature of the country's food safety mechanisms. French consumer confidence levels are in line with the country's rigorous safety protocols. Data reveals that over 80% of French consumers trust their farmers to guarantee high food safety standards. Labels of proximity, origin and quality considerably boost consumer confidence. The country's membership of a series of distinctive food labels, such as Appellation d'Origine and Label Rouge, further reinforces this sentiment, accounting for anywhere from a few percent to over 60% of certain product categories marketed, with sales figures reaching between 2 and 25 billion euros in various categories.

On the production side, the market's dynamism is reflected in the significant growth of laboratories and companies specializing in food safety. In particular, technical inspection services falling under NAF activity code 71.20B have expanded spectacularly over the past decade, with establishments and employees in the sector increasing by around 20%.

key players in the French food safety market

The food safety sector in France is served by a variety of indispensable players, each playing a critical role in ensuring the integrity, quality and safety of the food consumed by millions of people. This chapter presents the key players who contribute to vigilance, regulation and technological advances in the French food safety market.

• Regulatory and public health institutions
  
  
  • The French Food Safety Agency (AFSSA): Now part of the Agence Nationale de Sécurité Sanitaire (ANSES), AFSSA continues to uphold scientific rigor in the assessment and management of food safety risks in France.
    
    
  • Direction Générale de la Concurrence, de la Consommation et la Répression des Fraudes (DGCCRF): This authority oversees overall market safety, focusing particularly on consumer information, food composition and compliance with quality requirements.
    
    
  • Direction générale de la santé (DGS) and Direction générale de l'alimentation (DGAL): While the DGS deals specifically with drinking water, the DGAL plays a key role in the broader aspect of food safety, carrying out numerous controls throughout the food chain.
    
    
  • Directions départementales de la protection des populations (DDPP): These local bodies are the arms of the national agencies, ensuring that regulations are respected at a more local level.
    
    
• Specialized laboratories and reference networks
  
  
  • National Reference Laboratories (NRL) and Service Commun des Laboratoires (SCL): These accredited laboratories are pillars of the food safety infrastructure, providing accurate analysis and reference data essential to maintaining public health standards.
    
    
  • Laboratoires Départementaux d'Analyse (LDA): Located in different départements, LDAs support the national network with quality analyses, and are generally managed by departmental councils.
    
    
• Market solution providers
  
  
  • Ecolab: Based in Arcueil, France, Ecolab is a titan of technological innovation in hygiene, offering sophisticated solutions to improve food safety standards worldwide.
    
    
  • Mérieux Nutrisciences: A company that has raised the bar on food safety by investing in technologies such as blockchain to improve traceability, revolutionizing the way information about the origin and handling of food is shared with consumers.
    
    
  • Eurofins Scientific and Carso: Drawing on years of expertise, these two companies offer first-rate analytical services covering the full range of food products.

Inforamtion

• Number of pages : 30 pages
• Format : Digital and PDF versions
• Last update : 11/12/2023

Summary and extracts

List of charts

• Global market for food safety analysis
• Notifications and alerts
• RASFF notifications by type
• RASFF notification by type
• Share of European total
• Notifications by product type
• Notifications by type of risk
• Inspections and controls by the French health safety system
• Import controls on third countries
• French people's confidence in products from French agriculture
• Confidence in supermarket processed foods
• French opinion on the safety of products bought in supermarkets
• Confidence in convenience store processed foods
• Consumer confidence drivers
• Establishments registered under activity code 71.20B
• Employees registered under activity code 71.20B
• Ecolab revenues
• Breakdown of inspections carried out by the DGAL
• Number of suites by type of establishment