Popcorn, salty or sweet?
The debate will be suspended for the next few weeks in French cinemas.
Prime Minister Jean Castex and Minister of Health Olivier Véran announced this Monday, December 27 that the consumption of food and drinks would be prohibited in dark rooms for 3 weeks from January 3.
Likewise in theaters, trains and sports complexes.
A measure which aims to oblige customers and users to wear the mask without interruption.
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For cinemas, the effects of the measure are far from anecdotal.
The sale of sweets and drinks weighs heavily on their turnover.
In a report focusing in particular on cinema resources, Pierre Kopp, lawyer at the Paris bar, compared the turnover of the main groups in the film distribution network, UGC, CGR and Gaumont Pathé.
It emerges that the sale of confectionery weighs on average 14.97% of turnover.
This is more than advertising (9.42%).
Significant margins
As the author emphasizes, these side sales allow theaters to achieve significant margins: they are around 30% on confectionery
.
The price of the cinema ticket does not come back completely to the cinema's pocket since it is also shared with the distributor of the film, the National Cinema Center, the SACEM in charge of copyright and the State through through VAT.
The sale of sweets weighs heavily on the turnover of cinemas.
Pierre Kopp, "Cinema put to the test by the phenomena of concentration", 2016
A share in increase, since in 1996, according to the figures of a senatorial report, the sale of confectionery represented only 4.7% of the turnover of cinemas.
But the French are still far from consuming as much as the American spectators: in the United States, the sale of confectionery represents 20% of the turnover and 40% of the profits.
During the health crisis, the loss of earnings linked to the decline in sales of confectionery was so important for the American movie theater chain AMC decided to take popcorn out of empty theaters to start selling it in supermarkets. .
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In France, this is not the first time that the government has tried to restrict food consumption in cinemas, since a similar decision was taken last May when these establishments were deconfined.
This had not prevented the cinemas from selling the famous sweets by relying on the good faith of the customers, invited to eat their popcorn ... When they left their cinema session.