The French and bread

The bread market in France

Bread is an essential food for the French: 89% say they always have some at home, and 60% eat it at almost every meal!*.

In supermarkets, traffic in the bakery-viennoiserie-pâtisserie department stabilised at the end of 2023 at around 900 million checkouts over one year. This is a record level, well above the 880 million the market had before Covid. Inflation has something to do with it (supermarket prices are competitive), even if customers are starting to spread out again when it comes to shopping. "They are multiplying the number of chains and even more so the number of channels, going more often to convenience stores or supermarkets for emergency baskets", observes Jonathan Leguy at Kantar.

There are fewer baskets for each visit, but supermarkets have been steadily recruiting new customers in recent years. This is quite a feat, given that more than 9 out of 10 households were already using the convenience section of the supermarket**.

It is also interesting to note that the three main criteria for buying bread are taste, traditional production and freshness. What's more, the French origin of bread is favoured. In fact, 73% say it is important for bread to be made from wheat grown in France*.

The purchasing behaviour

In terms of purchasing behaviour, 6 main types have been identified by the FEB in recent years*** :

- Selectives -> small-scale bread consumers (once or twice a week) who choose bread that is good for their health;

- Snackers -> eat mainly baguettes or basic breads and pay close attention to the conservation of bread;

- The jaded -> eat bread every day, but more out of habit than pleasure;

- Nutritionists -> for whom the nutritional composition of bread and its benefits are very important;

- Gourmets -> big consumers of all kinds of bread. They are more sensitive to the way bread is made, baked and topped...

- Conservatives -> eat bread at every meal as part of their tradition, and appreciate short distribution channels and French flours.

Sources :

*Businesscoot, Le marché de la BVP Industriel, 2023

**Linéaires, Le rayon BVP recrute encore des clients, novembre 2023

***FEB, « Le Pain et les Français», 2021