Summary of our market study

Beef consumption in France is estimated at between 1.2 and 1.5 million tonnes per year

The global beef market is expected to reach 1160 billion dollars by 2025, with an annual growth rate of 7%. The world cattle herd stands at around 1 billion head.

The United States remains the world's leading beef producer, with an output of 13 million tonnes.

Trends in the French cattle market

France has the largest cattle herd in the European Union.

The French beef market is experiencing difficulties due to the steady decline in beef consumption, particularly among young consumers, and the impact of ethical concerns. Despite this, France remains Europe's leading cattle-producing country, with 17 to 18 million head of cattle, and between 3 and 4 million dairy cows.

Consumption of prepared meat dishes is on the rise.

The market is also challenged by changing consumer attitudes to animal welfare and environmental concerns.

Organic livestock meat production is a field in which France has taken the lead, with production approaching 85,000 tonnes.

The country is the world's leading exporter of live cattle, with a stable market share of around 11-12%.

French livestock farmers are grouped into cooperatives. There has been a structural decline in the number of farms, from over 215,000 to around 157,000 in 2020.

Producers are caught in a squeeze, with rising feed costs and retail prices that have risen only slightly.

The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) provides subsidies, and laws such as EGALIM II aim to take production costs into account when setting prices.

French cattle market players

  • Agrial: At the forefront of cooperatives is the Agrial group, with an extensive portfolio in animal production, spanning a wide range of sectors.
  • Terrena, Arterie: another significant cooperative
  • Sodiial: Another notable cooperative giant is Sodiaal, a consortium focused on dairy products. .
  • LDC: In the private sector, the LDC group is the market leader in poultry production, and although poultry is the main focus, its involvement in cattle breeding activities generates considerable income.
  • Hendrix Genetics and Grimaud Frères: These entities are dedicated to the genetic selection of animals.
  • Bigard, Charal, Socopa supermarket meat brands

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Summary and extracts

1 Market overview

1.1 Introduction and scope of study

Cattle breeding encompasses all activities involved in the reproduction of bovine breeds for human consumption, particularly in the meat and dairy segments.

As in the rest of the meat and dairy sectors, the French cattle breeding market is experiencing slight difficulties. New consumer habits and the scandals revealed by the L214 association have largely contributed to tarnishing the sector's image.

Yet France is a major breeding ground for cattle, the largest in the European Union. As a result, French operators dominate this market, which is highly regulated at European level, and offer higher value-added products that are more resilient to this downturn in the sector. What's more, intensive livestock farming, with operations involving thousands of cattle, is virtually non-existent in France.

The number of farms has fallen considerably over the past 15 years. Faced with strong deflationary pressures and a structural decline in meat consumption, many small-scale farmers have gone bankrupt, while others have formed producer groups or cooperatives.

As aresult, there has been a marked increase in the number of medium-sized and large farms, which account for almost all French livestock. Farmers generally operate on an individual basis. They may also join cooperatives, which act as producer organizations, responsible for adding value to their members' production. The biggest players, such as Terrena and Agrial, are involved in the entire meat value chain, from breeding to processing.

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