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Summary of our market study
In 2020, the French market for spreads in all categories was estimated at around 600 million euros.
Chocolate spreads account for almost 500 million euros, and are growing by around 4% a year. Non-chocolate spreads account for almost 60 million euros, and are growing by around 14% a year.
The market for chocolate spreads has seen strong growth in France, particularly during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Consumers are turning to healthier, palm-oil-free and environmentally-friendly alternatives, challenging the market dominance of leading brands such as Nutella.
The spread offering has diversified, with the emergence of new organic spread options, exemplified by players such as Jardin Bio. The overall organic segment will reach 78 million euros in supermarkets by 2020.
Nutella, despite a drop in market share from 70.2% to 67.7% in 2020, gained a million new consumers during the covid crisis.
Almost 60% of the French population enjoy spreads, with a marked preference for women over men.
Nutella largely dominates the market, but is facing increasing competition from brands that promote health- and environment-friendly practices.
Regulatory measures are also having an impact on the market, as demonstrated by the "nutella tax" on palm oil.
Players in the French spread market
- American brand Skippy, owned by Hormel Food, brings diversity to the spread market with its creamy and chunky peanut butter varieties.
- Lotus Speculoos spread takes advantage of the famous caramelized cookie flavor.
- Lucien Georgelin: Renowned national brand
- Jardin Bio: National brand specializing in organic chocolate spreads.
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Summary and extracts
1 Market overview
1.1 Definition and scope of study
The chocolate spread market is one of France's leading food products, with almost 3 kilos consumed every second in France. The market study below focuses on the consumption of chocolate-based spreads, while the jam and marmalade segment is the subject of another specific study.
Often eaten for breakfast or a snack, the intense taste of these spreads can accompany other products: breads, brioches, pancakes, waffles, etc.
The market for spreads in France is growing, and has been valued at 554.6 million euros in 2020, having seen a particularly significant increase of 9.9% between 2019 and 2020 (8.7% in volume) thanks to the Covid-19 crisis and various confinements.
In a quasi-monopolistic market dominated by Nutella, the sector's leading company has had to contend with several headwinds that have led to the emergence of competitors. The underlying trend for consumers to prefer healthy, local products with a low environmental impact is therefore taking its toll on the group, which is facing a number of controversies.
The erosion of the leader's sales has led to the emergence of new brands with strong positioning. These include the Italian brand Pan di Stelle (without palm oil, synthetic flavoring or coloring) and Patamilka, owned by the American giant Mondelez. Several French companies, including Léa Nature with its Jardin BIO' product, have also entered this segment, which is opening up to new entrants.
1.2 World market for spreads
To get a better idea of the size of the global spread market, we can separate it into two different segments: chocolate spreads and peanut butter spreads.
Firstly, in ****, the global chocolate spread market was valued at US$*.** billion, with a compound annual growth rate (***) of *.**% during the period ****-****. This ...
1.3 French spreads market
The market for spreads in France (***), due in particular to the Covid-** crisis, which prompted people to spend more time at home and consume more food that could be bought in supermarkets. Thus, the CAGR for the ****-**** period was *.*%, which is promising for the future of this market in ...
1.4 Foreign trade in spreads
Foreign trade in spreads is very balanced, with close values for the country's exports and imports. However, between **** and ****, France saw an increase in exports (***), which explains the rise in the coverage rate from **.*% to ***.*%.
The main destinations for French spread exports are Belgium, the UK and Spain, with Belgium and ...
1.5 The impact of Covid-19 on the spread market
The graph below shows the proportion of searches for a given term in a given region over a given period of time, relative to the time when the term was most searched for (***). Thus, a value of ** means that the keyword has been used less frequently in the region concerned, and ...
2 Demand analysis
2.1 Consumer profile and habits
In France, **% of French people consume spreads. [***].
As regards the profile of spread consumers, **% are women, compared with **% men. These consumers choose Nutella exclusively (***).
Breakdown of responses to "Do you usually consume spreads?" France, ****, in % Source: ****
The Kantar data below show how often the French had a sweet snack per week ...
2.2 Characteristics of spread consumption
Spreads are the ninth most popular junk food in France, with **% of French people claiming to consume them "often" or "from time to time". However, there's a big difference in terms of satisfaction derived from eating spreads, with only **% of French people experiencing pleasure after eating a spread.
Rate of consumption ...
2.3 Are the French leaning more towards organic?
As we saw earlier, spreads are a source of great shame for the French, and are considered "junk food".e as "junk food", there is a growing demand for "healthier" spreads, notably organic, vegetable, palm-oil-free, gluten-free or containing less sugar. However, Yougov's **** survey shows that **% of French people would not or ...
3 Market structure
3.1 Chocolate spread production line
The production of chocolate spreads is a relatively long and complex process, spanning several months and often several countries if we take cocoa production into account. It is important to distinguish between the stages of cultivation, processing, spread manufacture and distribution. [***]
With crushing, roasting and grinding, the cocoa powder is extracted ...
3.2 Breakdown of players in the spreads market
The French spread market is dominated by the Italian brand Ferrero (***), which held *% of the market in ****, and the French brand, Lucien Georgelin, which had a market share of *.*%. Private labels also play an important role in the market, with a share of **.*% in ****, up *.*% on ****.
Distribution of spread market players France, ...
4 Offer analysis
4.1 Spread typology and prices
The spreads market is characterized by a very varied typology:
Chocolate spreads Peanut butter spreads Spreads in well-known flavors (***)
These different spreads can also vary according to their concentration of sugar, palm oil, gluten, etc., so that there are a variety of vegan, organic, vegetable spreads, etc., as well as according ...
4.2 Market trends and innovations in spreads
The spread offer is marked by an increase in the importance of "bio", whose share in GMS (***) reached ** million euros in ****, up **% on ****, with a predominance of Jardin Bio in this segment, responsible for a value of **.* million euros in the sector. [***]
with this in mind, new spread releases in **** and ...
5 Regulations
5.1 The main principles of food hygiene in France
All foodstuffs are subject to the general provisions of the French Consumer Code in terms of conformity (***).
Several regulations provide the legislative basis for food hygiene in France:
Regulation no. ***/**** on the general principles and requirements of food law[***] ; Regulation n°***/**** on the hygiene of foodstuffs[***]; Regulation n°***/**** , which lays down ...
5.2 Regulations governing palm oil in spreads
In ****, the French National Assembly adopted a "nutella tax" on palm oil, aimed at reducing the use of this oil in food products. The amount associated with this tax was set at €*** per tonne and increased by €** in ****, €** in **** and €** in ****, after much discussion about the surtax on this product, which ...
6 Positioning the players
6.1 Segmentation
- Ferrero
- Lotus Bakeries
- Lucien Georgelin
- Jardin Bio (Léa Nature)
- Skippy (Hormel Food)
- Saint Hubert
List of charts presented in this market study
- Sales trends in the spreads market
- Spread sales by segment
- Sales trends in the chocolate spreads market
- Sales trends in the peanut butter spreads market
- Foreign trade in spreads
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Latest news
Ferrero pursues its breakthrough in frozen foods with the launch of a nutella ice cream - 23/05/2024
- - Launch of Ferrero ice cream brand in Europe: 2021
- - Launch of Kinder ice creams in partnership with Unilever: 2018
- - First Ferrero ice cream products: Ferrero Rocher and Raffaello (round, crunchy sticks)
- - Relaunch of Kinder ice creams with in-house production: 2022
- - Consumption of Kinder Bueno ice creams: 1.4 million consumers in 2023
- - Sales of Kinder Bueno ice creams: 13.6 million euros in 2023
Lucien Georgelin placed in receivership - 31/07/2023
- Lucien Georgelin has been in receivership since July 6.
- Lucien Georgelin is France's number two jam maker.
- In 2022, the company achieved sales of 70 million euros.
- The company employs 350 people
Ferrero France: tax reassessment in 2022 - 24/03/2023
- Tax adjustment for Ferrero France in 2022: 45 million euros .
- Ferrero International sales for the year ending August 31, 2022: 14 billion euros.
- Increase in Ferrero International sales: 10.4%.
- Ferrero net profit: 751 million euros.
- Decrease in Ferrero net profit: 24% year-on-year.
Lotus Bakeries: record growth thanks to price increases - 07/02/2023
- Record growth in 2022 for Lotus Bakeries.
- Lotus sales up 17% to 877.5 million euros.
- Profit: 103.3 million euros (+13.8%).
- Amount invested in 2022: 153 million euros.
Organic, another way. - 06/07/2021
- The Léa Nature food and cosmetics group posted sales of 450 million euros in 2019.
- The group's flagship brand, Jardin Bio, accounts for a third of its business, i.e. 113 million euros.
- Jardin Bio has 550 product references.
- The market for AB products recently exceeded 10 billion euros in sales.
- The Léa Nature group was founded 25 years ago.
- Jardin Bio offers 20% of its products in fair trade, and is aiming for 40% within 5 years.
- Over 70% of Jardin Bio's products are made in France.
- Léa Nature should exceed 500 million euros in sales by 2020.
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