The carrot market - France

1.2 Global and European markets

Global carrot production:

Global carrot production has been growing slowly and discontinuously for the past ten years, but the market as a whole grew by **% in volume between **** and ****. In ****, **.* million tonnes of carrots will be produced worldwide.

At the same time, the area devoted to carrot cultivation fell by *%. This progress is due to a number of factors: advances in crop mechanization, the growing use of fertilizers, and greenhouse cultivation enabling year-round production. The increase in yield is very substantial: in ****, the world produced **.* tonnes of carrots per hectar, while in **** it will be ** tonnes of carrots per hectar. [***]

evolution of world carrot production: volume produced and area harvested in million tons and hectare, World, ****-**** Source: ****

The European market is one of the main markets for carrot production, accounting for **% of world production, far behind the Asian market (***). Between **** and ****, the European market has remained stable, with annual production approaching *.* million tonnes.

It's worth noting, however, that yields in Europe have also improved over the past ** years. In ****, Europe produced **.* tonnes of carrots per hectar, compared with **.* tonnes in ****. [***]

evolution of European carrot production: volume produced and area harvested in million tons and hectare, Europe, ****-**** Source : FAOSTAT Asia ...

1.3 French carrot market

In ****, the French will consume ***,*** tonnes of carrots, i.e. **.* kg per year per household and **.* kg per year per inhabitant. French production is not sufficient to absorb the country's per capita consumption. Carrot prices fluctuate in France, depending on provenance, quality and marketing location. However, the price of a kilogram of carrots in **** can be estimated at €*.**. With this price, we can estimate the size of the carrot market in France in **** at €*** million. [***]

global carrot production: volume produced and area harvested in thousands of tons and in hectares, France, ****-**** Source: ****

In France, in ****, ***** hectares were devoted to carrot cultivation. This figure is well above the previous year's. After a long decline in carrot acreage during the ****s, farmers are once again growing carrots. However, yields have changed little over the period, as carrot production has been proportional over time to the area devoted to their cultivation. The average yield in France between **** and **** is **.* tonnes of carrots produced per cultivated hectare. [***]

French production yields are above the European average, but well below the Dutch figure of ** tonnes of carrots produced per cultivated hectare. The Netherlands has outstanding yields due to soils that are particularly well-suited to carrot cultivation, ...

1.4 French carrot market trade balance

in ****, France produced *** million carrots , less than its annual consumption of ***,*** tonnes. To satisfy domestic consumption, the country is obliged to import carrots. Nevertheless, France remains a small carrot exporter. France's carrot trade balance in **** was $** million. The country exports **,*** tons of carrots worth $** million and imports ***,*** tons of carrots worth $** million. [***]

Evolution of the carrot market trade balance France, ****-****, US$ million Source: ****

Over the past ** years, France's balance of trade (***) on the carrot market has widened considerably. Even after the record production year of ****, France's trade balance is still largely in deficit.

Breakdown of countries importing carrots into France France, ****, in Source : UN Contrade The main carrot exporters to France are Belgium and Spain, which together account for **% of French imports. It should also be noted that **% of French imports come from its European neighbors, with only China managing to sell part of its production in Europe. Carrots are therefore mainly consumed locally, within the same country, and exported mainly to neighboring countries.

In Europe, France is a small carrot exporter, exporting only ** million tonnes of carrots in ****, i.e. *% of its national production.

Breakdown of carrot exports from France France, ****, % of total Source: ****

France's main carrot exporters, Belgium ...

1.5 Consequences of the conflict in Ukraine, the fertilizer war

Ukraine is one of the world's largest producers and exporters of fertilizers. The war in Ukraine has led to political and economic instability in the region, with consequences for the fertilizer industry. Fertilizer production and export companies experienced difficulties due to falling demand and disruptions in supply chains.

Fertilizer prices in Africa have soared, as the continent's low fertilizer stocks and just-in-time consumption make it particularly vulnerable to fluctuations in raw material prices. European stocks give farmers time to find emergency solutions and turn to other supply chains, but as supply dwindles, prices will rise mechanically, putting the entire European agricultural market in a precarious position.

"France imports **% of the synthetic fertilizers it consumes, and **% of the minerals needed to manufacture them domestically. It also imports almost all the gas needed to manufacture these fertilizers. It is particularly dependent on Russia, the world's leading exporter of synthetic fertilizers, which accounts for **% of global synthetic fertilizer exports and **% of the gas imported into France."[***]

The consequences of the war are already real for French consumers, with a sharp rise in the price of raw materials and all food products throughout Europe.

2.1 Seasonality of supply and demand for carrots in France

Carrots are an important part of the French diet, the second most consumed vegetable in France after potatoes. The French consume around **.* kilos of carrots per capita per year. French national carrot consumption in **** will be equivalent to ***,*** tons per year.

To analyze the seasonality of annual carrot demand, we can use the Google Trends index. The Google Trends index provides an overview of interest in a term on Google. It does not provide information on actual carrot consumption, but it does offer a glimpse of seasonality.

Google Trends index for the term "Carrot France, ****-****, in Google Trends index Source: ****

There is a strong seasonal pattern in searches for the term carrot. Assuming that the seasonality of the search for this term corresponds to the seasonality of demand, we can deduce from this graph that demand for carrots is concentrated between October and June. There is a marked drop in demand every year from July to September. This drop in demand actually corresponds to a fall in supply due to the vegetable's seasonal nature. People are less inclined to eat carrots in summer, as carrots are less available overall, and at higher prices.

In ****, there was a certain instability compared ...

2.2 Consumer typology

The fruit and vegetable market is highly disparate in terms of consumption habits, with some age groups consuming more of these products than others.

For the carrot market (***), the main consumers are people in their sixties and seventies, who represent **% of the French population in terms of volume, and **% of the market's clientele. These age groups are therefore particularly keen consumers of fruit and vegetables, far more so than other age groups.

The average fruit and vegetable purchase in France is *** kg per household per year. Families with children and young households are the populations that consume the least fruit and vegetables. [***]

Average annual consumption of fruit and vegetables per household France, ****, kg/household/year Source: ****

Consumption by people in their fifties is closest to the average for the French population. Vegetable consumption patterns seem to be almost proportional to the age of the consumer. The graph shows that young people consume almost three times less fruit and vegetables than people in their seventies. Moreover, young people are the segment of the population that consumes the least fruit and vegetables. Assuming that carrot consumption is proportional to vegetable consumption in general, young people would consume *.* kg of carrots per year, while ...

2.3 The development of organic carrots

Like many other products, carrots are benefiting from a trend towards organic farming. A general awareness of the importance of health, nature and the soil is driving consumers and producers to favor organic products.

The main organic label in France is AB for "agriculture biologique". This label, created by the French Ministry of Agriculture, offers the certainty that the product has been grown without synthetic fertilizers, pesticides or weedkillers. AB products are also guaranteed to be GMO-free. [***]

Proportion of organic vegetable consumption France, ****-****, % Source: ****

Carrots are one of the vegetables with the highest organic consumption (***), although between **** and ****, the proportion of organic carrots consumed will only be *.**%.

Nevertheless, the organic sector has been expanding rapidly in recent years, and by **** will account for **% of all farms. Between **** and ****, organic farming will grow from *% to **% of farmland.

Sales trend for organic vegetables France, **** - ****, in millions of euros Source : AgenceBio **** The organic vegetable market grew strongly between **** and **** (***). However, there was a slight slowdown between **** and ****, due to lower vegetable consumption in ****, which followed an exceptionally high **** with the COVID-** crisis.

A study by France AgriMer details the consumption of organic produce, with carrots the most widely consumed organic vegetable in ...

3.1 Industry organization

Source: ****

Carrots are roots that keep particularly well in the ground, so sowing and harvesting are staggered throughout the seasons to spread out harvests.

Harvested carrots are transported to packing stations, where they are washed, brushed, sorted, graded and cooled using the hydrocooling technique (***).

Grading enables us to distinguish between carrots that will find their place on the shelves and those that will be recycled. The latter will be re-injected into other branches of the industry, such as food processing, to make purées, soups, etc.

The graded carrots are then packaged and offered for sale in many different formats: bulk boxes, ***g, *kg, *kg, *kg or even **kg bags for local authorities or restaurants. [***]

3.2 Carrot production in France

Carrot production in France is highly localized. A study by Agreste (***) published in January **** looks at the main carrot-growing regions in France. The study identifies the main carrot-growing basins, focusing on the three regions with the highest carrot production in France: Aquitaine, Normandy and Brittany. These three regions account for **%, **% and **% of national carrot production respectively.

Other minor regions are also mentioned in this study: Nord, PACA, Midi-Pyrennées and Pays-de-la-Loire. In the absence of data, we'll arbitrarily assume that these regions share the rest of the production equally. This construction is of course artificial, as are all the other minor regions which are not represented at all on the map of France. [***]

Source: ****

The main production areas are located on the Atlantic coast (***). This French peculiarity is explained by the way many carrots are grown in France. These are sand carrots, which grow particularly well in sandy soils. This particularity means that the regions along the Atlantic coast benefit from an environment that is ideally suited to growing these carrots.

3.3 Transformer networks

The carrot processing industry for the food industry is federated by UNILET, the interprofessional organization for canned and frozen vegetables. For the purposes of this section, we will be basing ourselves on figures provided by UNILET. "According to a survey conducted by CSA for UNILET, **% of French people say they eat canned or frozen vegetables. **% say they consume canned vegetables (***)."[***]

The processed vegetable sector in France represents a third of the vegetables grown in France, a market worth a total of *.* billion euros.

Breakdown of vegetables in the canned and frozen vegetable processing sector France, ****, % (***) Source: ****

The carrot is a relatively minor vegetable in terms of surface area devoted to the vegetable processing industry. Only *% of the **,*** hectares devoted to vegetable production for the industry are devoted to carrot cultivation, i.e. *,*** hectares. In France, **,*** hectares of carrots will be grown in ****, which means that **.*% of the carrot surface area will be used for processing. [***]

Carrots are found in a large number of canned and frozen vegetable mixes. Of the vegetables destined for the processing industry, **% are frozen, while **% are canned. The industry values the freshness of its products by prioritizing processing speed: it is estimated that in just * to * hours, ...

3.4 Distribution networks

Carrots, like all vegetables, are distributed to the general public by a large number of players, including hypermarkets and supermarkets, EDMP "Enseignes à Dominante Marque Propre" (***) or simply markets.

Even so, some retailers are the preferred source of fresh vegetables, while others are losing market share. Online vegetable shopping has yet to attract a regular customer base willing to buy fresh produce directly from the Internet.

Hypermarket: Large sales outlet for all everyday consumer products, with a surface area of *,*** square meters or more.

Supermarket : Medium-sized sales outlet all everyday consumer products, with a surface area of between *** and *,*** square meters.

EDMP : Enseignes à Dominante Marque Propre, formerly Hard-Discount.

Markets: Place where marketers, who are direct producers or simply distributors, set up to sell their products.

Specialized trade: For the carrot market, the specialty store will be a greengrocer.

Convenience stores: Small retail outlets selling all everyday consumer products, with a surface area of less than *** square meters.

Percentage of market share for each type of retailer France, ****, in percent Source: ****

Vegetables are mainly sold to consumers in hypermarkets, supermarkets and EDMPs. Overall, **% of these products are sold in general supermarkets. Only a small proportion of carrots are bought in specialized stores (***) or ...

4.1 Prices for different types of carrots

Price differences for carrots according to type:

To build a coherent typology for price comparison, we're going to focus on a single supplier offering carrots (***) throughout France. This is the website MonMarché.fr. This site offers different categories of carrots, which will enable us to compare their prices.

Carrots are usually classified by color, although there are many different types. Orange, purple and yellow carrots make up the whole range of carrots offered on MonMarché.fr, the site with the largest catalog in France.

Conventional orange carrots: the best-known carrots produced in France are the so-called "Nantaise" or "Touchon" carrots. This is the conventional carrot, which we imagine to be long, orange and smooth... Nantaise" or "Touchon" carrots can be found in every fresh vegetable department in France. These carrots can be found on the MonMarché.fr website in **** at a price of €*.**/kg.

Carrots in bunches: When harvested, carrots are grouped together in bunches, and it's very common to combine these bunches and sell them directly in this format. For consumers, this format seems to be the guarantee of less industrial products, since they are only harvested, not cleaned... These are the same varieties, "Nantaises" or "Touchon" carrots. These carrots ...

4.2 Price trends for carrots

INSEE has set up an indicator to monitor carrot prices. This indicator is an artificial average of carrot prices on a national scale, although in reality this price fluctuates and describes a national trend rather than a reality.

General price trends :

Average carrot price trend over the last ten years France, **** - ****, INSEE index - base *** in January **** Source: ****

There was a very significant price increase of +**% between **** and ****, due to a particularly harsh season for farmers. Heavy rains in January and February **** made harvesting difficult, then the heat of the rest of the year severely damaged conservation, leading to a significant rise in prices. Since this contextual price rise, average annual prices have generally remained at high levels.

Average carrot price trend over the past year France, ****, INSEE index - base *** in January **** Source : INSEE After a seasonal drop in price (***), during the winter of ****-****, prices continued to rise due to energy and fertilizer costs, which exploded in Europe following the war in Ukraine. "Fertilizer and energy prices increased the most strongly over a year, with +**.*% and +**.*% respectively." [***]

These figures are representative of the market as a whole, and do indeed reflect a global rise in prices, but they ...

4.3 Innovations and new farming techniques for the carrot market

Staggered annual carrot production:

Carrots are a seasonal vegetable. However, French consumption patterns for carrots are more seasonal than just harvesting season. Farmers and manufacturers must therefore find economic solutions to spread production out over a longer period of the year.

Rotation of carrot varieties and categories:

The first solution found and used is purely agricultural. Farmers sow carrots at different times of the year, in spring or autumn, to obtain a staggered harvest that enables them to supply the industry with carrots over a longer period.

Early and late harvests:

Carrots can be harvested at different times of the season to produce different types of product that will appeal to consumers. Young" carrots are a common sight on supermarket shelves. These strategies give the industry extra leeway when it comes to marketing carrots.

Use of refrigerated preservation:

Refrigerated storage is a preservation technique that extends the life of carrots by up to * months. The conditions under which carrots are kept in these cold rooms are very specific. It involves creating a refrigerated chamber (***), with strong circulation of humid air and upstream treatment of air and water to prevent the development of bacteria and mold.

This method is costly, but enables ...

5.1 General regulations

UN/ECE standard FFV ** - **** : This standard applies to carrots of varieties (***) The eGALIM * law (***) The French Rural and Fisheries Codedefines collective sales outlets for agriculture: "Art. L. ***-*. - local agricultural producers may come together in producers' stores to market their products to consumers as part of an organized short circuit. They may only offer products from their own production, whether raw or processed. These products must represent at least **% of the outlet's total sales. For processed or unprocessed products not produced by the group, producers may only obtain supplies directly from other farmers, including those organized into cooperatives, or from food artisans, and must clearly display the identity of the latter and the origin of the product." The Agriculture and Food Law (***) This law meets three main objectives: Pay producers a fair price, to enable them to make a dignified living from their work. Reinforce the health, environmental and nutritional quality of products. Promote healthy, safe and sustainable food for all. (***)

5.2 The various labels available to guide consumer choices

Label Rouge: The Label Rouge is a national sign that designates products which, due to their production or manufacturing conditions, have a higher level of quality than other similar products usually marketed.

Appellation d'Origine Protégée (***): the product says where it comes from: its name is that of a place emblematic of its territory of origin.

The Protected Geographical Indication (***): testifies to a universe and consecrates a know-how rooted in a territory. The stages in the production process that give the product its specificity are carried out in the territory concerned, and are precisely described in a set of specifications.

Traditional Speciality Guaranteed (***): certifies that a food product has been produced according to a traditional production method, recipe or composition.

Organic Farming: Products identified by the Organic Farming logo guarantee that they have been produced in an environmentally-friendly way, with a high level of animal welfare and using local resources. They exclude the use of GMOs and synthetic chemicals.

6.1 Player segmentation

• CONSERVES FRANCE
• BONDUELLE EUROPE LONG LIFE
• DUJARDIN BRETAGNE
• Agrial Coopérative Primeal
• KULTIVE
• Arterris Coopérative
• Planete végetal
• Bonduelle Groupe