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Summary of our market study
The French frozen food market is estimated at around 9 billion euros.
The global frozen food market has grown significantly, with the European market holding over 35% of the share.
The global market is worth over $180 billion, with average annual growth of 5%.
The fast-food sector, a major consumer of frozen prepared meals, is experiencing an upward trend of 5% in the out-of-home catering market.
The pandemic has changed eating habits, boosting home cooking and demand for frozen foods.
Frozen food market trends in France
Almost all French households consume frozen foods.
Consumers are turning to frozen foods that require a minimum of preparation effort. Ready-to-heat meals dominate the frozen food market.
The fast-food industry is a major growth driver for the market.
The market is also being driven by the widespread use of frozen foods in educational establishments, retirement homes and healthcare establishments.
Supermarkets and hypermarkets are the market leaders, with 58% of the market.
Specialized frozen food stores are gaining ground, with banners such as Picard, Thiriet, Place du Marché and Ecomiam
Picard, in particular, has over a thousand stores in France, and Thiriet, is the second-largest specialist retailer.
Market players :
- Picard: The undisputed specialist and market leader.
- Thiriet: Second only to Picard
- Place du marché (ex Toupargel):
- Ecomiam: a big name in specialized distribution
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Summary and extracts
1 Market overview
1.1 Presentation and definition
Deep-freezing is the process of rapidly lowering the temperature of a foodstuff, while still fresh and wholesome, to -18°C at the core. Freezing, a similar but less efficient process, offers less rapid cooling.
There are several techniques for freezing a product:
- Contact freezing, reserved for thin foods (fish fillets, for example), is achieved by introducing the food between two plates through which a fluid circulates at -35°C.
- The forced-air circulation technique, better suited to smaller products such as vegetables, involves placing products in tunnels where freezing air (-35°C) circulates rapidly.
- The immersion method, adapted to irregularly-shaped products, involves immersing the food in a fluid at a very low temperature, such as liquid nitrogen.
- IQF (Individually Quick Frozen) involves immersing foodstuffs in a liquid gas. More expensive, it is better suited to fragile products.
These complex industrial techniques mean that the core temperature of products must always be maintained below -18°C, which presents distributors with a real technical challenge.
This study on frozen products will focus on the different market segments, business-to-business and business-to-consumer, and the different forms they can take. Regarding B2C trade, the GSA (Grandes Surfaces Alimentaires) is in the lead, with total sales of 2.4 billion euros in 2021, compared with 921.2 million euros for specialist chains. [LSA]
1.2 The global market
According to a study by Grand View Research, the global frozen food market is estimated at $***.** billion in ****. Average annual growth is expected to be *.*% between **** and ****, generating sales of $*** billion by ****. The creation of supermarkets and hypermarkets has driven market growth in recent years.
The trend in frozen food market ...
1.3 The French frozen food market
The frozen food market has been particularly turbulent in recent years following the horsemeat scandal from the Spanghero factory. It turned out that Findus had been selling products labeled "pure beef" when they were made from horsemeat. The ensuing investigation revealed the weaknesses of meat traceability in Europe and eroded consumer ...
1.4 Foreign trade
Given the variety of frozen products on the market, in this category, we focus on foreign trade in frozen beef, one of the most critical segments of the European frozen food market.
Using the UN Comtrade website, it is therefore possible to obtain the graph below corresponding to foreign trade associated ...
1.5 Covid-19 pandemic boosts frozen food market
The Covid-** crisis has positively impacted the frozen food market in France. Indeed, with government-imposed restrictions such as confinement and restaurant closures, the French have been led to spend more time at home, turning to frozen foods to facilitate their daily diet.
More specifically, the sweet frozen food segment saw its ...
2 Demand analysis
2.1 Fast food, a growth driver for frozen ready meals
The fast food market growth drives demand for frozen products, mainly frozen-ready meals. With increasingly busy lifestyles, consumers are looking for practical solutions for their meals. Frozen ready meals offer a quick and convenient option while allowing consumers to control ingredients and choose healthier options. This trend is contributing to the ...
2.2 Foodservices
Another demand segment, Business to Business this time, is the sale of frozen products to catering establishments. These include :
Educational establishments Retirement homes and social establishments Companies and government bodies Hospitals and health establishments Catering
Education
There will also be a slight increase in the number of public and private secondary ...
2.3 Traditional catering
Restaurants can call on wholesalers for frozen food deliveries as part of their B*B business.
Trends in French household consumption of catering services
The graphs below illustrate several indicators representative of the traditional food service market (***).
Number of businesses registered under NAF code ****A (***) France, ****-****, in number of establishments Source: ...
3 Market structure
3.1 BtoC distribution - Food superstores
The business-to-consumer segment corresponds to the distribution between a company and a consumer.
A survey carried out by YouGov in **** gives an idea of the distribution channels for frozen foods preferred by the French.
Answer to the question "Which retailer do you usually buy your frozen food from?" France, ****, in Source: ...
3.2 B2C distribution - specialized channels
Among the most important are Picard, Thiriet, and Ecomiam. [***]
Picard
Picard, with its *,*** stores in France, remains the undisputed leader in the specialist retail channel,by the beginning of ****, Picard will have *,*** stores. The company achieved sales of *.* billion euros in ****, a figure stable compared with previous years. Picard also has ...
3.3 Business to Business distribution
Business-to-business distribution, which involves the delivery of frozen products between two companies, accounted for **% of the frozen food market in **** according to Unigrains data. This type of distribution can occur between a frozen food manufacturer (***).
Gira Foodservice has collected data on this distribution segment. This data dates back to **** but gives ...
4 Offer analysis
4.1 Frozen products on the market
To build an overview of the frozen food offer, we can analyze the request of Picarda specialized retailer. The company distinguishes between :
fruit and vegetables meat and poultry fish and shellfish
These dishes can be sold in various forms:
aperitifs starters, tarts, and salads ready-made meals breads and pastries pastries ice ...
4.2 Low prices and frozen food prices
Prices for private customers
By analyzing prices of Picard products, we can establish that they are :
between *.** euros and * euros for vegetables ; between *.** euros and * euros for fruit; between * euros and * euros for meat and fish products.
Prices for food professionals
When selling frozen products to food professionals, it is essential ...
4.3 Towards the obsolescence of deep-freezing?
Hydroprocessing protection: a revolution?
Agro Media notes that advances have been made in food preservation recently. For example, the Centre de Développement Bioalimentaire du Québec has developed a new food preservation process: the "hydroprocess de protection," or HPP for short.
HPP involves vacuum-packing pressure-resistant foods and subjecting them to ...
5 Regulations
5.1 Respecting the cold chain
All players in the frozen food market (***) are obliged to respect the cold chain, i.e., to ensure that frozen foods are kept at a negative temperature that complies with regulations. The core temperature must always be below -**°C and the ambient temperature between -**°C and -**°C. This ...
6 Positioning the players
6.1 Segmentation
The following segmentation is used:
- Auchan groupe
- Picard Surgelés
- Place du Marche (Toupargel)
- Thiriet
- Maximo
- Pomona Groupe (Passion Froid)
- Sysco Groupe - Davigel
- Transgourmet France
- Martin-Brower France
- Orly Gel
- M&M Quality Food
- Ecomiam
- Boncolac
- Bonduelle Groupe
- Ajinomoto
- Escal Sea Food
- Carrefour Groupe
- E.Leclerc
- Findus France
- Fleury Michon
- Iglo (Nomad foods)
- McCain Food
- Sodebo
- Cargill France
- Routhiau Groupe
- Traiteurs de Paris
List of charts presented in this market study
- Trends in frozen food market size
- Breakdown of frozen food market size by product type
- Sales (excl. VAT) of frozen food retailers
- Fast food sales (NAF code 56.10C)
- Answers to the question "At work, where do you eat most often?"
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Latest news
Bonduelle abandons its bagged salads in the face of pressure from retailers - 02/09/2024
- - Bonduelle announces the divestment of its bagged salad business in France and Germany.
- - The Bonduelle group has been facing a structural decline in salad consumption in France and Germany for the past ten years.
- - Les Crudettes, which is in exclusive negotiations with Bonduelle to take over the French business, employs 2,300 people and boasts annual sales of 1.2 billion euros.
- - The Saint-Mihiel salad plant could close in spring 2025, affecting 159 employees.
- - Sales in Bonduelle's salad segment have fallen by 15% over the last seven years.
- - Bonduelle's overall sales fell by 1.4% to 2.37 billion euros for the year 2023
- -2024. - 73% of non-cooked frozen vegetables sold at retail are marketed under private labels, according to Circana.
- - Bonduelle employs over 11,000 people and operates in nearly one hundred countries.
Bonduelle sells its bagged salads in France and Germany - 30/08/2024
- Bonduelle's total sales for the year ending June: 2.4 billion euros.
- Percentage of sales represented by the global bagged salad business sold: 7%.
- Sale of 65% of US canned vegetables and Long Life frozen foods business in 2022: 625 million euros.
Bonduelle: cool weather to penalize sales in 2023-2024 - 06/08/2024
- Bonduelle sales for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2024: 2.372 billion euros.
Picard creates an observatory dedicated to the food of tomorrow. - 21/06/2024
- - 68% of French people believe that eating seasonal produce is the key to healthy eating.
- - 42% of French people see homemade food as a solution to eating better.
- - 48% of French people prefer seasonal fruit and vegetables.
- - 46% of French people prefer fresh, local produce.
- - Over a third of French people use frozen foods to eat more fruit and vegetables every day.
- - 50% of French people adopt a more balanced diet for weight reasons.
- - Only 22% of French people make the connection between their diet and their level of immunity, and 11% with their psychological state.
- - 22% of those surveyed consider that eating well means eating organic or pesticide residue-free products.
- - 17% prefer Nutri-score A and B or label products.
- - 46% of 18-24 year-olds cite lack of time as an obstacle to eating well.
- - 53% of French people see frozen products as a quick and economical way to eat a balanced diet.
- - 20% of those surveyed perceive frozen products as being of lower quality than fresh.
- - 57% of French people want brands committed to products from local agriculture
- - 44% of French people want brands to pay producers well.
Picard, the best recipes from the king of frozen foods - 20/05/2024
- - Freezers in over 90% of homes today
- - Picard's EY Parthenon ranking: fourth place, behind Action, Décathlon and Leroy Merlin.
- - Number of Picard outlets: over 1,000.
- - Percentage of Picard capital held by the Zouari family since 2019: 49%, with a call option to increase their stake to a further 51% held by British fund Lion Capital.
Jean-Noël Darniche, new General Manager of Bonduelle Fresh France - 23/04/2024
- **Bonduelle Fresh sales**: €110 million
- - **Number of production sites**: 4
- - **Number of employees**: Nearly 600
- - **Types of activity**: Own-brand, private label and out-of-home catering
- - **Specialized in delicatessen salads with the takeover of Caugant in 2003
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the frozen food market | France
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