French food habits, sharing meal and conviviality
New life style and l’art de vivre à la française
Food habits are changing.
New eating trends are on their way in France. The French eat out-of-home more often. Snacking is getting a new habit. Time spent preparing and cooking of daily meal is shorter, nowadays.
French consumers are getting aware that resources as such are limited. As a result organic products and produces have increased their market share. Weekly market places attract consumers, where they can buy from field to fork produces. These are convivial places, offering fresh produces and locally transformed products.
A farmer’s market place
French families tend to preserve the habit of sharing meal
at least once a week, especially their lunch on Sundays. On special events (birthdays, weddings, achievements …) the French meet and have good food and wines. This togetherness enables families and friends to strengthen social ties. According to Jean-Paul Kaufman, a French micro-sociologist, this is a matter of cultural heritage, and gastronomic age-old tradition. No doubt you have an idea of the French cuisine heritage. In 2010 it was honored by UNESCO as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity
Historical reasons explain the French food habits
La Poule au pot
Did you know that French King Henry IV (1553-1610) would measure the wealth of his kingdom and their inhabitants according to their Sunday lunch?
King Henry IV
King Henry IV would have said: je ferai qu’il n’y aura point de laboureur en mon Royaume qui n’ait moyen d’avoir une poule dans son pot. (I will govern the country so that each farmer can eat a chicken).
Other historical reasons
explain the taste of the French population. Travels, influences of ancient colonies and more recently of immigrants have a real impact on the taste of French consumers. When they discover new flavors, products, and combinations they tend a recall their gustative souvenir! Although variations have to be introduced (less spicy, less hot) this trend offer an opportunity to test the French food market.
Significant trends in food and beverages consumption
Local production is a sector with the wind
In search of authenticity French consumers are eager to promote local sustainable development:
- 71% want local short travelled items, from local producers (above other EU countries),
- 44% buy seasonal products, with a preference for local ones.
Local, fresh produces
Food security is a hot topic
No doubt the recent food crises have led to put this topic high. For instance, the so-called Horsegate (2013) impacted the consumption of ready-to-eat, or canned meat. As a whole, French consumers’ confidence in the agri-food chain is being shattered.
Let alone, the opinion that GM cultures are not safe enough, that small farmers have few ways to escape major groups, that feeding the global population at the same level means deforestation, overcultivation or overgrazing. These concerns may explain the trend towards authenticity, ethics and short-travelled products.
Yet, French people still consider that France est le pays de la gastronomie (France is the country where gastronomy is an art); anyway the part of out-of-home meals is increasing yearly.
Sharing and snacking
Both have entered the French restaurants and French homes. TV dinner plate, lunch boxes, tapas, take-away, food-trucks and fast food gastronomy are the new trends.
Out-of-home meal
French eating habits are based on:
- eating at the same time,
- socialising, and having some time for conviviality.
Despite the development of fast-food outlets, “meals in France still structure daily lives and relations with others. (Although) for the past 20 years alarmist commentators have repeatedly predicted the demise of the French meal”, according Thibaut de Saint Pol, a French sociologist.
Labels, ingredients and healthy considerations
On one hand the authorities launched debates and ruled on the labelling of food products in France (read our article on Food labelling and regulation). On the other hand media, blogs and medical professionals play a considerable role in changing the food habits. As a result, consumers tend to read the list of ingredients. They search for traces of allergens, preservatives, additives, E-numbers etc. Natural and organic are also leading the trend.
Reading labels is getting a habit to search traces of allergens
Free-from products are gaining market shares. This is the consequence of the awareness of bad consequences of many food ingredients on the health. Posts and medical papers rise concern of food-borne diseases.
Food habits and budget in French households
Food spendings are important data for any market research when a food company wants to sell in France.
A survey conducted in 2015 concluded that the monthly budget required for a healthy diet in France is EUR 183,00 (GBP162.36) for a single person and EUR 669,00 (GBP593.56) for a family of two adults and two children. For information on the French Food Basket, click here
These figures concern Paris and its area, called Ile de France. Note that the cost of living is much higher in Paris, and large cities, such as Lyon, Toulouse, Marseille, and Lille.
Town |
Population |
Rank |
Paris |
2 229 621 |
1 |
Marseille |
855 393 |
2 |
Lyon |
500 715 |
3 |
Toulouse |
458 298 |
4 |
Lille |
231 491 |
10 |
Source Insee (National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies)
The French average household net adjusted disposable income per capita is USD 29.759 (about GBP 23,13) slightly higher than the OECD average (USD 29.016, GBP 22,55). UK figures are USD 26.687 (GBP 20,73) a year.
Yet we can wonder whether globalization would standardize palates. Not sure that French consumers are ready to cut off their taste for authenticity, sharing and conviviality when it comes to food and drink matters!
Our next article will present the differences between English and French food choices.
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