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Ethnic Foods Boom in France
By Mattie Sharpless
The French have become more worldly in
their eating habits, and just like Americans, they have developed
growing appetites for ethnic foods such as tacos and tortillas.
The development of theme restaurants in France, which serve American, Cajun, Asian and other international cuisines, has increased the popularity of international foods, creating a demand for high-quality products.
French consumers satisfy their desires for ethnic foods at home by cooking a variety of cuisines including Asian, American and Indian. This creates excellent market opportunities for U.S. exporters of ethnic food products such as chips, tortillas, tacos, sauces and spices, and ready-to-eat ethnic dishes, wild rice, beer and wine in France.
Ethnic Foods Popular in France
According to SECODIP, a French research and evaluation firm, the typical French consumer who buys ethnic foods is rather young (under 50 years old), lives in cities with more than 60,000 inhabitants, is of a medium to-upper-income level, and has families with two children. He or she buys ethnic meals for their taste, not for food variety in their daily diets.
Last year, French theme restaurants in Paris served about 10 million ethnic meals daily. There is an increasing interest in Asian food (Chinese, Vietnamese, Thai and Malay), Cuban and Caribbean cuisines, United Kingdom and Irish dishes, as well as American, Indian, Japanese, Australian and Eastern European cuisines. SECODIP also indicated that in 1997, there were 6.3 million buyers of Asian food products and 2.5 million buyers of Tex-Mex off food meals.
France's retail market for ethnic foods is growing. According to AC NIELSEN (Marketing Research, Retailers and Supermarket Consumer Panels), in 1997, the French market for Asian food products represented more than $41 million, compared to $25 million for Tex-Mex food products. The Tex-Mex food product market in France increased by 25 percent in 1997 over 1996.
Currently, the best sellers are convenience foods, frozen foods and beers. It's possible that ethnic foods could expand to other product lines such as organic foods and vegetarian products.
The catering service market for ethnic foods that originate in Cuba, the Caribbean, the United Kingdom, Ireland, and the United States is also growing.
Food Educates French Consumers
The nations of the world may speak a variety of languages, but food is a common link between all cultures. French consumers have learned they can take a trip around the world by simply lifting a fork.
Food consumption also links the French to international cultural trends, events and holidays such as Christmas or Halloween.
By immersing their taste buds, French consumers who cook ethnic foods have learned 5, 6 or 10 different international cuisines. The most popular are Asian, Indian, Tex-Mex, Lebanese, Greek and African cuisines. Many can even expertly distinguish the various cuisines of similar cultures.
Today’s French shoppers are concerned about convenience as well as taste. Consumers preparing ethnic foods at home seek products that are simple, and easy-to-prepare.
Most ethnic food products in
France are sold in supermarkets. The Monoprix supermarket
chain pioneered the introduction of ethnic products and other
chains soon followed, notably Carrefour and Auchan.
Carrefour, the second supermarket chain in France with 115 stores, conducted a one-week U.S. food promotion from February 27 to March 7, 1998, with products from the Eastern region of the United States. The chain is now making plans to increase its line of U.S. food products to other regions of the United States provided U.S. suppliers can offer high-quality products at competitive prices.
The Office of Agricultural Affairs is working with 52 Auchan supermarkets to feature authentic California/West Coast food products such as green asparagus, wild rice, dates and other new-to-market products.
U.S. exporters who are interested in exporting their ethnic foods to France should follow these tips:
For more information on exporting to France, contact:
The Office of Agricultural Affairs
American Embassy
2 Avenue Gabriel
75382 Paris Cedex 08
Tel.: 011-33-1-43-12-2264
Fax: 011-33-1-43-12-2662
E-mail: FasParis@Compuserve.com
Internet: http://www.amb-usa.fr/fas/fas.htm
___________________
The author is the minister-counselor with the Office of
Agricultural Affairs at the American Embassy, Paris, France.
Tel.: (33-1) 4312 2222; Fax: (33-1) 4312- 2662.
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