In the French trolley, frozen foods now occupy a prominent place.
It's not just fries, ground beef or pizza.
Packages of green beans or salmon steaks are also popular.
Between confinements, the curfew and tensions over purchasing power, these products are the big stars of recent months marked by the Covid-19: "It is one of the strong markers of this atypical consumption linked to the crisis, ”confirms Emily Mayer, specialist in consumer products at the IRI institute, with supporting figures.
In supermarkets alone, "the market is at + 11.6% in 2020", underlines the expert who points to double-digit increases for vegetables (+ 13.1%), seafood (+ 13.2%), meats (+ 17.1%) and fish (+ 19.2%).
Growth is even stronger for specialized stores: “It's + 29%,” she explains.
All networks combined, the sector has earned 1 billion euros in one year!
"
These figures are all the more "unexpected" as this market was not flourishing before the health crisis.
It was even in decline or at best stable in recent years.
The “horse meat” scandal in 2013 in particular left its mark.
“It splashed out on a whole industry, even those who were not concerned, sighs Lionel Urvoy, director of the Sveltic production site of the Agromousquetaires group, which supplies Intermarché with frozen ready-made meals (pie pie, lasagna, pan-fried dishes, etc.). 15% of our turnover at that time.
It is only now that we are finally able to regain our pre-crisis level as demand has been strong.
"
Wrapped up, they inspire more confidence
It is first for its "practical" side that the French rushed to frozen foods, especially during the first confinement: "In a period when going to the store was complicated, these products had the advantage of keeping for a long time. , to be quick to cook while the children were at home.
They also inspired more confidence since the products are packaged, we don't have to handle them, ”says Emily Mayer.
Thus, sales soared in the spring in supermarkets (+ 30%).
No brand is immune to stockouts.
“It was very tight on certain products.
We quickly ran out of breaded fish, for example, ”says Emmanuel Préau, group leader for Auchan frozen food.
Upstream in the chain too, things are getting hot.
“We made + 50% in March and April.
It was quite incredible ”, remembers Jérôme Bonnet, commercial director of Atlantique Food, an SME of 180 employees based in La Rochelle (Charente-Maritime) which produces quiches, pies and frozen pancakes in own brands for the great distribution and specialized networks.
At Thiriet, the frozen food specialist born in the Vosges in 1902, growth was even + 80% in March, notably with an explosion in online orders.
“We have been doing home delivery and click and collect for a very long time.
And there obviously, it worked very well.
For the customer, it was the guarantee of respect for distancing, ”points out Christiane Bertoncini, general manager of the group which has 2 million customers.
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But even outside of these periods of confinement, the French continue to fill their trolleys with frozen food, whether with "raw" products - because they have found the pleasure of cooking - or with ready-made dishes.
The 400,000 new customers “recruited” by Thiriet over the year as a whole - with turnover up 30% - prove it.
Just like the growth recorded at the start of the year in supermarkets for these products (+ 14.8%), including + 19.6% for vegetables and + 27.6% for meats.
And the curfew at 6 p.m., decided in mid-January does not explain everything.
"Beyond the practical side, the French have (re) discovered that finally frozen foods had many other qualities", welcomes Christiane Bertoncini.
"A rebirth for our industry"
First, the anti-waste aspect: “the product can be split with long consumption dates.
So we only take what we need and put the rest away.
We have nothing to throw away, ”notes Emmanuel Préau d'Auchan.
There is obviously also the price.
“Frozen ground beef is 50% cheaper than fresh, a kilo of frozen green beans is only 1.70 euros.
The cost is much lower ”, he assures before stressing that this type of product ultimately responds to“ all new consumer expectations, be it on purchasing power, the environment, but also on ... health while its nutritional qualities are very good ”.
Vegetables, for example, are harvested “in the open field and in high season before being frozen within 4 hours.
By the end of the year, all of our frozen private label products, including ready meals, will have Nutriscore.
And a large part will be in A or B!
»He promises.
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It is precisely on the quality that frozen foods, long associated with additives and poor eating, have their revenge.
“In recent years, there has been extensive work on the recipes.
This went unnoticed because the sector suffered from an image deficit.
The Covid-19 has at least made it possible to highlight all the efforts made by the industry, ”rejoices Lionel Urvoy.
“Thanks to the health crisis, the French have changed their outlook on frozen foods, also welcomes Jérôme Bonnet.
If some came to it a bit forced and forced at the beginning, they finally realized that it was not that bad.
On the contrary !
It's almost a rebirth for our industry.
"
