Dn the media arena, everyone brandishes their figures like so many banners. Tuesday, September 5, the meat manufacturers united within Culture meat piqued their audience gathered during their annual Parisian conference. They were alarmed by the decline in the consumption of animal proteins in France. Red and pink meat more precisely.
This agitated muleta in public made cattle breeders see red. “We have to stop with this posture. The beef market is extremely dynamic”, reacted the same day Patrick Bénézit, president of the National Bovine Federation. To try to settle the dust from this skirmish between slaughterers and breeders wishing not to let themselves be defeated, let us take the Ministry of Agriculture as witness.
According to data published at the end of August, beef consumption fell by 1% over the first six months of 2023. A slight decline certainly, but not a collapse. “There is no de-consumption of beef. The French continue to eat it but there is a change in eating habits. We cook at home less often and go out for lunch or dinner more frequently”emphasizes Mr. Bénézit.
Imports are increasing
A development illustrated by the report for the year 2022 presented by Meat culture. He estimates that home consumption of beef decreased by 9.8% in one year, even though it increased overall by 1% over this period. It is true that if the pot-au-feu and the bourguignon are hardly in season anymore, the success of the hamburgers is undeniable. The fast-food brands that popularized it are endlessly nibbling away on market share. Shaken, the restaurants reacted by systematically slipping it on the menu between egg mayo and chocolate fondant. The canteens do not deprive themselves of this. And the Frenchman, even back home, thinks he could still have some delivered… Beef is still popular.
Of course, inflation does not spare the butcher’s department of supermarkets. When shopping, consumers look for low prices. He quibbles over labels and favors the self-service offering, less expensive in his eyes, even if it sometimes means neglecting the origin of the product. “Today, a quarter of the beef consumed in France is imported”says Mr. Bénézit.
These imports are increasing. Especially since, on French territory, the herds are losing heads, year after year. The herd has decreased by 10% in six years, i.e. 515,000 suckler cows and 348,000 dairy cows less. Attrition linked to the continuous decline in the number of breeders. Will it still accelerate at the rate of retirements?
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