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Summary of our market study
The French apple market is estimated at around 800 million euros.
The world apple market is over 90 million tonnes. China is the dominant producer, with a market share of 49%. Competition has intensified with the emergence of new producers such as Turkey, Ukraine and Russia.
European production exceeds 12 million tonnes. Poland produces 3.5 million tons and Italy 2.4 million tons.
French apple production is in decline. Exports have halved from 700,000 tonnes in 2014 to 350,000 tonnes in 2021. High labor costs (accounting for 40-60% of expenses) and the impact of regulations on yield have put French growers in a difficult situation.
Consumption trends and apple preferences in France
In France, apples retain their coveted status as the country's favorite fruit, with a consumption rate of around 16-17 kilograms per household per year.
This popularity translates into a market share by volume of almost 18%, surpassing other fruits such as bananas and oranges.
Domestic consumption is stable. The average household spends between 220 and 230 euros on fresh fruit.
France is Europe's second-largest apple juice market, after Germany. Apple juice accounts for 13.5% of the juice market volume.
Compotes, particularly those sold in squeezable bags, have seen strong growth, with production reaching 400,000 tonnes.
Dominant forces in the apple market
- Blue Whale is one of the giants of the fruit station sector
- Innantis, formerly known as Pomanjou, stands out for its wide distribution
- In juice production, brands such as Innocent, owned by Coca-Cola, and Joker, under the aegis of the Eckes Granini group, hold substantial market shares.
- Materne has a significant impact with its Pom'Potes brand, particularly in the squash segment.
- Charles & Alice specializes in fresh produce.
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Summary and extracts
1 Market overview
1.1 Definition and scope of the study
"An apple every morning keeps the doctor away"... Like this famous adage, apples are widely recognized as one of the healthiest foods and a staple of our diet. Available all year round, and consumed both as fresh fruit - in this case table apples - and processed in a wide variety of forms, apples are the most widely consumed fruit in French households, as well as in Chinese and Korean ones.
The apple market includes many varieties, such as Golden, Gala, Pink Lady and Granny Smith. It caters for all budgets, with entry-level apples as well as "top-of-the-range" apples, notably those with PDO or PGI certification.
Worldwide, the apple market is exponential, boosted by the frequent appearance of new producing countries. Indeed, world production increased by 115% between 1985 and 2020. China is the world's leading producer, accounting for half of global apple production with a 49% market share, most of which is destined for its domestic market. To a much lesser extent, it is followed by the United States and Turkey.
French production and exports, meanwhile, haveplummeted since the 1990s, having almost halved. France is less and less competitive and concentrates its production on "top-of-the-range" products, prompting many producers to convert to organic farming. Nevertheless, France is importing more and more, supporting the apple processing industry, a market that is itself growing rapidly.
1.2 Global and European markets
The global market is booming. According to a Senate report, production has risen from ** million tonnes in **** to ** million tonnes in ****. In other words, production has more than doubled (***) in just ** years. China, as the world's leading producer, has made a major contribution to this growth, doubling its output from ** million ...
1.3 The French market
French market value:
Apples have historically been an export-oriented sector of excellence in France, but this market has been experiencing a decline in production for several years. In order to estimate the size of the national market, we will calculate a high and a low estimate.
According to FranceAgriMer, French exports ...
1.4 Balance of trade
France used to be a major apple exporting country. However, export quantities have been falling steadily for several years.
French apple exports France, ****, in thousands of tons Source: ****
This decline in export volume and value is explained by the emergence of new players on the world market with selling prices well ...
2 Demand analysis
2.1 A very popular fruit in France and around the world
The apple is France's favorite fruit, the most widely consumed by households, who buy **.* kg a year. The apple has a **.*% market share in terms of volume of fruit purchased, ahead of bananas (***). The penetration rate is very high, with **% of households buying apples at least once a year, according to ...
2.2 Declining demand
Annual household consumption of table apples has shown different trends in recent years.
change in quantities of table apples purchased by households (***) France, ****, in Source: ****
Although the above trend suggests that demand is on the rise, it has very recently plummetedbetween May ** and June **, ****, a situation FranceAgriMer has not seen since ...
3 Market structure
3.1 Value chain
Source: ****
From French or foreign growers to final consumers, the paths taken are varied, with or without processing. The value chain in this sector clearly illustrates the fact that apples from French orchards are all valorized. Indeed, apples that do not meet the criteria of size, firmness or shape required to ...
3.2 Producers in difficulty
In France, *,*** growers are involved in the apple production chain. The number of players involved in the entire value chain, from transport to processing and distribution, is much higher and difficult to quantify. **,*** hectares of agricultural land are used for apple growing, **% of which is reserved for organic farming. By ****, according ...
3.3 Fruit stations and distributors
Fruit stations:
Once the apples have been harvested from the orchards, they arrive at the fruit stations. Their role is to transform the fruit received into marketable products. The process can be summed up in three stages.
The apples are first approved by the fruit station's Quality department. During this stage, ...
3.4 Processing: focus on apple juice
With consumers increasingly looking for products that are convenient (***) and quality, it is highly likely that the volume of apples destined for processing will continue to rise in the coming years, and that the quality of these processes will also increase.
The juice sector is a major market in France, accounting ...
3.5 Processing: focus on applesauce
Apples are also widely consumed in compote form. In fact, in ****, **% of compote production came from apple blends (***) and comes in a variety of formats: jars, jars or gourds, which are driving growth upwards thanks in particular to the Materne group's Pom'Potes.
The compote market is particularly dynamic, growing by **.*% in ...
4 Offer analysis
4.1 Offer typology
The range of apples on offer in France is extremely varied, with several thousand varieties, and those available for purchase have their own specific prices. The table below shows monthly prices in euros for one kg of apples sold in supermarkets and hypermarkets (***) over the past year.
Source: ****
Prices depend largely ...
4.2 Higher and higher prices
Production difficulties are reflected in prices, which are rising steadily. This can be seen by observing trends in the farm-gate price index (***), which measures changes in the prices of products sold by farmers.
Gross farm-gate price indices, base **** France, **** - ****, in Source : Agreste This trend naturally applies to all apple varieties, ...
4.3 A segmented offering
The French market, positioned on high-end products, therefore targets consumers with high purchasing power. However, although the number of consumers interested in higher-quality products has been increasing for several years and is beginning to stabilize, these buyers consume very small quantities. In fact, **% of households were buying organic produce in ****, but ...
5 Regulations
5.1 Regulations
Apple production in France is subject to numerous regulations.
In particular, there is a specific mandatory marketing standard in accordance with amended EU regulation no. ***/**** Annex * part B. This standard imposes, among other things, classification into different classes (***) and provisions for sizing, presentation, marking, etc.
CEE ONU - FFV - ** (***) is ...
5.2 Designations and certifications
Other tools can be used to certify the origin or quality of apples.
The Appellation d'Origine Protégée (***) is a European sign with value throughout the EU, awarded to a product whose every stage of production respects a recognized know-how in the same geographical area, giving the product its characteristics. ...
6 Positioning the players
6. Segmentation
- La Vie Claire
- Bio c' Bon
- Naturalia
- Biocoop
- Auchan groupe
- Casino Groupe
- E.Leclerc
- Carrefour Groupe
- Innocent
- Joker (Eckes Granini France)
- Tropicana
- Andros Groupe
- Materne (Bel groupe)
- Charles & Alice
- Innatis Developpement
- Blue Whale
List of charts presented in this market study
- Ranking of the largest apple growers
- Production of Europe's three largest apple growers
- National apple production
- Weight of different fruits in production areas
- Weight of various fruits in production volumes
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Latest news
Casino CEO Philippe Palazzi takes over Monoprix and Naturalia - 24/09/2024
- Monoprix sales: 4.3 billion euros.
- Total number of Monoprix stores: 861, including 338 integrated.
- Total number of Naturalia stores: 232, including 170 integrated and 62 franchised.
- Share of Monoprix sales in the new Casino: 50% of the total (4.3 billion euros out of 9 billion euros at December 31, 2023).
Charles & Alice compotes work with arboriculturists - 25/03/2024
- The fresh produce compote specialist
- 220 million euros in sales
- The market for fruit desserts in the refrigerated section is worth close to one billion euros
- The "no added sugar" segment accounts for around 40% (400 million euros).
Optimistic for the future, Biocoop announces encouraging results - 08/03/2024
- Organic cooperative chain sales: 1.5 billion euros
- - Sales up: 2.3% (+3.1% at constant base)
- - Volume contraction: 4 to 5%
- - Biocoop market share: up 2 points to 43.9%
- - Number of Biocoop stores: 739 by the end of 2023
- - Number of Biocoop employees: 6,600
- - Number of Biocoop store closures: 39
- - Number of Biocoop store openings: 13 - 87% of Biocoop's products come from France
Biocoop announces the end of the organic crisis - 08/03/2024
- - Organic prices are on average 50% higher than those of conventional products.
- - Sales of organic products plunged by 4% in France in 2022, and by 13% in major supermarket chains in the first half of 2023.
- - Biocoop sales grew by 2.3% in 2023.
- - Biocoop gained 2 points of market share among specialists, reaching 45% in 2023.
- - Biocoop closed 39 of its 298 stores in 2023.
Auchan faces another "difficult" year in 2023 - 22/02/2024
- -Auchan net loss in 2023: 379 million euros
- - Previous year's profit: 33 million euros
- - Auchan's position in the French retail sector: 5th
- - Revenue in 2023: down 1.7% to 32.9 billion euros
- - Share of hypermarkets in Auchan's store base: 21%
- - Acquisition of Casino stores by Auchan and Intermarché: 70 supermarkets, 26 hypermarkets, including five larger than 9,000 m2, and two drives
Carrefour has switched to the more dynamic franchising model - 21/02/2024
- - Carrefour has passed the tipping point towards a model based increasingly on franchising.
- - By 2023, half of its sales in France will come from franchised or leased stores.
- - As part of this strategy, Carrefour has added 653 neighbourhood stores by the end of 2023.
- - In 2023, Carrefour recorded sales of €94.13 billion, up 10.4% on the previous year.
- - Carrefour-branded products now account for 36% of food sales, up from 33% in 2022.
- - Carrefour's e-commerce sales volume rose by 26% to 5.3 billion euros (+16% in France).
- - Carrefour plans to acquire 60 Cora hypermarkets and 115 Match supermarkets for a hefty billion euros in 2024.
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The apple market | France
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