 |
21/05/2008 15:15:30
Free Range - the French way
(This story appears in the May issue of the Ranger magazine. The magazine of the British Free Range Egg Producers Association). To enquire about receiving the Ranger magazine visit www.theranger.co.uk
Do Free Range producers in France operate in the same way as in Britain? Are their rules the same as ours? Are their eggs as good as ours? How have they coped with the rise in feed prices? What do French consumers want from their eggs? 'The Ranger' has been meeting French Free Range producers, industry representatives and retailers to find out the answers to these and other questions.
From the Nestbox to the Shelf
French producers are not contracted directly to a 'packer'. Typically their egg contract is with a production organisation (which can be a co-operative). The production organisation collects the eggs from their producers and supplies them to a 'packer'. The 'packer', who may be part of the food group but who operates as a separate business, is responsible for marketing and distribution including negotiating prices with the retailers. Price negotiations are conducted with the 'centrale d'achat' (buying centre) of each of the five leading hypermarket/supermarket groups: these are E. Leclerc, Carrefour, Auchan, Casino-Cora, and Intermarché. Most of the best-known French supermarket chains such as Champion, Monoprix etc. belong to one of these five groups.
No French supermarket has committed to Free Range, and Pascale Magdelaine, of ITAVI, says that at present it hard to imagine that this will ever happen. A letter was recently sent to the head of E. Leclerc asking the company if it would commit to selling only eggs produced in alternative systems. The response was negative; Leclerc will continue to offer the full range and leave the choice to the consumer. Battery eggs account for 70% of Leclerc's egg sales.
Food Groups
Major food groups (groupes agro-alimentaire) involved in egg production include Glon, Groupe Appro, Groupe LDC and CECAB (Central Co-operative Agricole Bretagne). The market-leading CECAB group was formed 40 years ago through the merger of five co-operatives in the Morbihan region of Brittany. It is structured into five operating divisions: agricultural activities, canned food, frozen food, meat, and eggs. Across these divisions it has around 8,000 producer members, all in Brittany. When CECAB first came into being in 1968 eggs were a small part of its activities; there were just 20 egg producers amongst its membership, with 60,000 hens between them. By 2006 this had grown to 75 egg producer members with a total of 1,678,000 hens, producing 487,000,000 eggs a year. Of these, 20% are non-cage. Eggs from CECAB's producers are supplied to Matines. It is Matines, and not CECAB, who markets the eggs and negotiates with the retailers.
Co-operatives are a strong force in French agribusiness, accounting for on average around 40% of the total 'agro-alimentaire' market. A report on the role of co-operatives by Coop de France in 2005 analysed their share of the marketplace by sector and found that it varied from around 90% down to 20% or even less; in the case of eggs, it was 30%. In keeping with the co-operative ethos, these groups have a history of working closely with the producer, for instance by selling feed to their producers at discounted prices and providing advice and assistance in business matters such as building a new poultry house. Nine out of ten French farmers belong to at least one farmers co-operative.
Free Range Egg Brands
There are a number of strong national brands that dominate the retail marketplace. Packers sometimes use two brand names to differentiate between products; Group Appro, for instance, markets its eggs from alternative production systems as La Mère Poulard and its cage eggs as Lustucru; CECAB's Label Rouge Free Range are branded Mas d'Auge. There may be a range of specialities within one 'label' such as standard Free Range, Label Rouge, Free Range Omega 3, Organic, Organic Omega 3, etc. In many cases the brand is supported by a website where customers can find out more about how the eggs were produced, general information about eggs, recipes etc. Cocorette has an English version of their website at http://web.lerelaisinternet.com/cocorette/an/index.php; Cocorette sells only Free Range eggs that have been laid in straw nests, collected by hand and produced on farms that keep only a very small number of hens. It is claimed that after the hen has laid an egg is laid in straw she sits on it for a short time while the shell dries, and this makes shell less porous to microbes.
Leading egg brand Matines was launched in 1985 as a co-operative venture between ten regional organisations. The brand rapidly gained a large share of the market, and Matines became a company in its own right in 1990. Free Range eggs were introduced into its range 1987 and organic in 1992.
Another major brand is Loué, produced by member of the farmers co-operative CAFEL (Co-operative Agricole des Fermiers de Loué) which celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. CAFEL has a significant part of the chicken market. Its chicken is also sold under the Loué label; Loué Label Rouge chicken is very well known. A claim to fame is that CAFEL was the first farmers organisation to advertise on TV, with an advert for its chicken. The Loué egg range includes Label Rouge and Bio.
La Mère Poulard is the brand name for free range and organic eggs of Groupe Appro, which has a large share of the total retail egg market in France. We hope to report on an interview with M. Philippe Lalère, Marketing Director of Groupe Appro, in a future of edition of the Ranger, where we will invite him to explain in more detail the relationship between producer, food group and packer, the different types of egg contracts that producers can enter into, and the factors that are most important to consumers.
A very marked new trend is that the supermarkets' 'own brand' eggs have massively increased their share of the market in recent years. ITAVI's recent study shows that of total egg sales in supermarkets and hypermarkets in 2007, 'own brands' accounted for 52% of volume and 48% of value.
Adding Value through Freshness
French consumers are particularly concerned with freshness, so one way of 'adding value' in all sectors, from organic to battery, is by stamping each individual egg with the date it was laid as well as the 'best before' date. Appro Lustucru was the first brand to do this, around four years ago, and was also the first to introduce extra fresh eggs (again, in the battery sector) that are brought onto the shelves within 24 hours of being laid. Boxes of eggs stamped with the date laid, and promising extra freshness, account for a large proportion of speciality eggs.
There's Free Range ... and there's Label Rouge
'Label Rouge' is the big success story of the Free Range industry in France. The 'Label Rouge' scheme is a premium quality mark for free range poultry products, both eggs and meat. The scheme was begun in 1985 for poultry and Free Range eggs were included in 1998. Label Rouge imposes more stringent production standards than required under European legislation. The rules for Label Rouge have been approved by the French Ministry for Agriculture, and strict quality control is carried out by independent assessment bodies.
Label Rouge requires a lower external stocking density for hens. For standard Free Range production, producers in France must observe an external stocking density of 4 square metres minimum per hen (i.e. 2,500 hens per hectare) and an internal stocking density of 9 hens per square metre, with 4 levels permitted in multi-tier systems. For Label Rouge producers, the internal stocking level is the same, but the external requirement is 5 square metres minimum per hen. In addition, Label Rouge producers are limited to a maximum of 6,000 birds per house, and a maximum of two houses. For ordinary Free Range, there is no upper limit on the number of birds that a producer can keep.
There are additional requirements for Label Rouge relating to feed, egg collection and packing, and quality control. Feed must be 100% plant based with minerals and vitamins; it must include a minimum of 50% cereals; and it must contain no artificial colouring. Eggs must be collected at least twice a day, and the interval between laying and packing must not exceed 4 days. Label Rouge eggs are subject to regular organoleptic analysis and production units are regularly inspected by the approved certifying body.
Specifications for a particular brand may exceed those laid down by the scheme. For instance, some labels specify 75% cereal content for the food, and the Cocorette brand requires eggs to be laid on straw and collected by hand by farmers who keep only a small number of hens.
However, there may be a potential problem in putting too much emphasis on small scale production., because while it pleases the consumer it does not necessarily please the retailer. When the E. Leclerc supermarket was recently asked to phase out battery eggs, one of the reasons it gave for its refusal to do so (letter dated 7 March 2008) was that 'today's production methods are not adapted to allow us to increase our sales of eggs from alternative production units, due to the size of these units and the long certification process for organic or Label Rouge'.
Of total egg sales across France's major retailers in 2007, standard Free Range accounted for 14.9% of volume (an increase of 4% on 2006) and 17.5% of value (an increase of 8.5%), whilst Label Rouge Free Range accounted for 6.8% of volume and 11.6% of value (up by 12.3% and 11% respectively). In 1966, Label Rouge production comprised some 1.7 million hens, producing an average of 260.1 eggs each.
Organic
The organic ('Bio') sector is relatively strong in France. Organic egg sales in major retailers were at 5.8% in 2006, and organic eggs command a good premium over non-organic Free Range. However, organic egg producers feel disadvantaged by the current ruling that they must produce a minimum of 40% of feed on their own land. This is in accordance with the principle that in organic farming there should always be a link between livestock production and the land. It is predicted that this requirement will curb growth in the organic sector: some organic producers who were already operating before the ruling was introduced are unable to continue, while others who were considering converting to organic have been deterred by the ruling. It is also not permitted in France to keep organic and non-organic flocks on the same site.
CONSUMER CONFUSION?
It's not only in the UK where television and newspapers take an interest in food producers. Recently, eggs and egg production have been very much in the media spotlight in France. Last month (8th April) the television channel TF1 broadcast a documentary looking at various aspects of agricultural food production. Unfortunately I didn't see the programme, but the general opinion seems to be that it was well-informed and fair. Eggs were just one of many topics covered. It explained the EU codes stamped on eggs that tell consumers whether they are organic, Free Range, barn or cage, and then went on to conduct a little experiment: posing as a customer, the reporter went round market stalls asking for Free Range eggs. She was repeatedly sold cage eggs and assured that they were Free Range. In each case she then showed the vendor the code on the egg, asked for her money back and was duly reimbursed – until the last occasion, where the stallholder became very annoyed when she realised she was being filmed. An argument broke out and ended in eggs being thrown at the camera – much to the delight of the gathering crowds.
This deception should not have been too difficult to spot since all the eggs were plainly coded as cage eggs, but French consumers don't all understand the EC coding, some aren't even aware that there are codes stamped on eggs, and many of them rarely take the trouble to look. The documentary sparked lively feedback from shoppers who have themselves had similar experiences, and it seems that this has up to now been fairly common practice at markets. At least this programme seems to have succeeded in raising consumer awareness of the codes, so French egg-buyers should henceforth be less easily deceived. In fact, some brands now make it easier for consumers by actually stamping the words 'Plein Air' or 'Bio' on the egg itself, in addition to using the standard EC alphanumeric coding. (It would be fair to say, though, the quality and legibility of the stamping varies.)
ALTERNATIVE MARKETING CHANNELS
Under the rules of the French Ministry of Agriculture and Fishing, producers may sell their eggs direct to the public at markets within an 80km radius of the production site. The local market is still a thriving institution in France and many villages have their own weekly market. Some independent French producers are also finding customers via the internet, either by setting up their own website or by joining an AMAP. An AMAP (Association pour le Maintien d'une Agriculture Paysanne) is a local association set up to support producers. Consumers can subscribe online to their local AMAP, entering into an agreements with producers affiliated to the AMAP, and in return for an annual fee they receive an agreed amount of their chosen produce over the course of the year, generally delivered in the form of mixed boxes of vegetables, eggs and meat. This arrangement helps producers by providing them with a lump sum upfront that can be put towards their production costs. However, small scale production is declining steadily in France.
It possible, but unusual, for even a medium sized producer to operate without an egg contract Thierry Desplat is an organic Free Range producer at La Ferme de la Chauvellière, 35km south of Tours. He has around 6,000 hens and he also rears his own chicks from day-olds, in batches of 2,000. Thierry has chosen not to enter into a contract with an egg distributor. All his eggs, branded 'L'Oeuf Bio de Touraine', are sold locally in shops, or through a local distributor of organic produce who takes orders online either for collection from the depot or for home delivery, or through his local organic AMAP 'Bio En Brenne'.
SPONSOR A HEN
A highly innovative marketing idea is the 'hen contract' offered by La Ferme des Echancées, near Belfort. Organic Free Range producers Sopie and Eric Walger came up with this idea in 2003. At that time AI scares were severely affecting egg sales in France, and their annual contract with a local packer was not renewed. "We had to think of something quickly, or go out of business," says Sophie. And this was the scheme they came up with: for 41.80 euros, customers within a 40 km radius of La Ferme des Echancées can 'sponsor a hen' and receive a weekly delivery to their door of six large fresh organic eggs over a ten months period, then at the end of the ten months they receive their hen, either alive or ready for the oven (99% choose oven-ready). Sophie and Eric devised this scheme because they saw that their only chance of staying in egg production was to deliver door to door on a large scale, but they also realised that managing to catching all their customers at home to collect a few euros from them every week could prove an impossible task. Sophie and Eric now have 1,250 'hen contract' customers, and they estimate that their profit margins are around five times higher than an egg contract could provide – but, as Sophie points out, their workload has doubled because the administration is a job in itself. When I spoke to her on the phone, she was in the middle of sorting out a stack of queries from customers who had lost track of how many eggs they had already had and how many were still to come. "Providing customer care is an office job. It's very different from being a producer and spending the day looking after animals" – but, she adds, she has no regrets over starting the 'hen contract'. Their venture has already caught the imagination of the French media, and Sophie is delighted at the prospect of being mentioned in the Ranger In a recent TV documentary about the scheme customers were full of praise, saying they especially like the freshness of the eggs and the knowledge that they are supporting local producers.
SIX OF ONE, HALF A DOZEN OF THE OTHER?
Clearly there are many parallels between the Free Range marketplace in the two countries. A growing proportion of consumers in both countries are committed to buying premium shell eggs, but the catering and processed egg sectors are still dominated by cage eggs. A notable difference here is that MacDonalds in Britain has committed to Free Range, and MacDonalds in France – so far at least – has not. Both countries have developed premium shell egg categories that 'add value' to the basic Free Range concept; the UK has Freedom Food and the Lion Code, France has Label Rouge. Both countries have 'niche' products, but the slant is slightly different. In France, as in the UK traceability is important. But their successful niche product of eggs laid in straw nests has not, as far as I am aware, been tried in the UK, and I have not seen 'coloured eggs' in France, nor reference to any special breed of hen.. Above all French consumers are very keen to buy eggs as freshly laid as possible, and will pay a premium for this. In Britain, significantly more progress has been made in persuading the supermarkets to commit to Free Range. To date, shelf price seems to have been more of an issue in Britain, with French supermarkets being less reluctant to put up their prices; but this may be about to change as French consumers start to feel the pinch.
Broadly speaking, production practices in the two countries seem to be very similar. The same breeds are prevalent. On average it seems that French Free Range units are significantly smaller than their British counterparts; the restrictions imposed by Label Rouge are probably a factor in this, and there is great emphasis on the perceived link between smaller-scale production and superior quality. Consequently Free Range production tends to be carried out alongside other farming activities, and not as a main revenue stream. Organic livestock producers in France are required to produce at least 40% feed for their animals, and there is understandably a feeling that this puts them at a disadvantage in relation to organic producers in Belgium and the UK who are not subject to this requirement. Agricultural co-operatives have thriven in France, and my initial impression was that Free Range producers may have more favourable contracts than their UK counterparts due to the co-operative structure of many of the food groups, but hopefully we will be able to assess this more accurately after meeting the marketing director of Groupe Appro.
The list of differences and similarities could go on. One thing that became very clear is that France, like Britain, has dedicated Free Range producers who take pride in what they do, and some extremely competent and highly committed individuals and organisations working on behalf of Free Range producers: analysing the marketplace and responding to market trends; investigating ways of improving production techniques, animal welfare and egg quality; liaising with other sectors of the industry; representing the producers' interests to EC legislators; and in short doing everything possible to maximise the long-term success of Free Range.
BACKGROUND STATISTICS ON THE FREE RANGE INDUSTRY IN FRANCE
Figures quoted below are taken from the report entitled 'Le Marché des oeufs et des ovoproduits' written by Pascale Magdelaine and Agnes Braine of ITAVI (Institut Technique de L'Avicole) Service Economique
Production Statistics
ITAVI's recent report, published in March 2008, shows that France is still the EU's leading egg producer with 14.9 billion eggs per year, comfortably ahead of its nearest rival Spain at 12.8 billion (figures used are for 2006, the most recent available). However, only around 19% of egg production in France came from alternative systems (i.e. non-cage), as compared to 36% in the UK; and in fact alternative production systems lost ground slightly in France in 2006. Of all the European countries, the UK has the highest proportion of non-organic Free Range production and France has the second highest proportion, but the gap is wide: 27% and 12% of national production respectively. Perhaps surprisingly in view of the above, Organic Free Range accounts for the same percentage of total national egg production in both countries, at around 3%. Split down by number of birds in each system, Free Range production in France is composed of an estimated 1.6 million organic layers, 1.7 million 'Label Rouge' (superior quality) Free Range layers, 4 million standard (i.e non-Label Rouge) Free Range and 1.4 million barn. Label Rouge Free Range is France's fastest growing egg sector.
Shell Egg Consumption
Over the three-year period 2005/6/7, the average person in the UK consumed a total of 180 eggs. The average person in France consumed 245 eggs, made up of 169 shell eggs and 76 processed eggs. Of the shell eggs bought for home consumption (restaurants and catering excluded) in France in 2007, 5.9% were organic, 21.5% were Free Range, 1.4% were barn and 71.2% were cage. (Equivalent figures for the UK were: 6% organic, 27% Free Range, 4% barn and 63% cage.) The proportion of shell eggs eaten in France has been falling steadily in recent years.
Import/Export Market
Ever since 1996 France has imported more shell eggs than it exports. Historically, the value of imports used not to exceed the value of exports because imports were at the lower end of the market and exports were at the higher end. However, since 2000 this has no longer been the case, and in the last two years the financial deficit has grown. In 2007 France's main overseas supplier was Spain, and its main overseas customer was Belgium, followed by Germany, followed by the UK. In the previous year, 2005, the UK had been France's main overseas customer.
France's Egg Market
Between December 2006 and December 2007, egg prices to the consumer rose by 11.3%, with a sharp increase occurring in the latter half of the year, reflecting the rise in feed prices. However, over the three years prior to this egg prices in the shops been falling steadily, and a situation had arisen where the volume of egg sales in supermarkets and hypermarkets had risen but the value of the sales had fallen. The major factor that led to this unusual situation was heightened competition between the major egg brands. As a result, the increases in 2007 have in effect done little more than restore prices to their previous level. So far the price rises have not deterred consumers; in 2007 overall egg sales increased in both volume and in value, with most of the increase deriving from Organic, Label Rouge and Free Range.
SUPPLY/PRODUCTION CHAIN
In the Production Unit
Breeds most frequently used in egg production are ISA, Lohmann and Hyline. ITAVI's statistics for 2006 showed that the average age at which birds came into lay was 123.9 days for standard Free Range (a 1.4% reduction over the previous year) and 124.9 days for organic (0.3% increase). Average length of lay was 331.6 days in the standard Free Range sector (1.4% increase) and 338 days for organic (5.4% increase). The average standard Free Range hen produced 262.5 eggs, and the average organic hen 261.8 eggs. The feed ratio was 2.47 kg feed/kg egg standard Free Range, and 2.64 kg feed/kg egg organic.
A 'LABEL ROUGE' PRODUCER
M. Jean-Yves and Mme. Brigitte Bouffort keep 15,800 Free Range ISA Warren at their farm near Mur-de-Bretagne, in central Brittany. For administrative purposes the free range side of the farm is officially registered to Mme. Bouffort and the arable side to M. Bouffort, though in practice they share the work. Their henhouse, which has Vencomatic nestboxes and automatic egg collection, was purpose-built when they embarked on Free Range in 1990/91. The Boufforts have a premium 'Label Rouge' egg contract with CECAB, and their eggs are marketed by Matines under their Label Rouge brand Mas d'Auge.
Jean-Yves explained that they were offered a choice of contractual terms by CECAB, and they opted for terms that allow them less independence but greater protection from fluctuations in the marketplace. He says that the recent rises in feed costs have not affected him at all as he does not pay for feed. Apart from the energy bills, he and his wife are only responsible for providing and maintaining the henhouse and range, and the equipment, and providing the labour. The birds and the feed are provided and paid for by CECAB. The Boufforts receive a fixed price per egg; CECAB collects three times a week and takes all the eggs, with seconds being paid at a lower rate.
M. Bouffort is extremely happy with the arrangement. If he had opted for a contract where he paid for hens and/or feed, the price per egg would have been higher; but the Boufforts – a young couple with a family – did careful calculations and decided that in the longer term this contract would be best for them. They like it because there are no large bills to pay, and they have the security of a fixed regular income over the term of the contract; the only factor that might affect their income slightly is productivity. "Even if there is another egg crisis – which let's pray there isn't – our income is still assured for the duration of the contract," says Jean-Yves. He has also heard, unofficially, that there is a possibility the price they receive per egg might be increased slightly later this year to take into account the increased cost of electricity used in the henhouse.
"I'm not tied into my contract with CECAB. I could tear it up tomorrow if I wanted," he continues. "But I have no reason to. Both sides are happy, and as long as that is the case we will want to carry on working together." He adds, though, that other companies may not be quite so flexible, and he thinks it is because CECAB is essentially a farmers' co-operative that they work so closely with the producers. "They listen to us. For instance, CECAB provides the chicks, but they wouldn't send me a breed that I didn't want. If I wasn't happy with this flock I would tell them, and next time we would try a different breed." In fact, he adds, it is a good flock and he doesn't want to change.
Jean-Yves clearly takes pride in being a Label Rouge producer. The quality control checks are strict, he says; in additional to the regular testing for Salmonella, CECAB also sends inspectors to carry out quality checks and ensure that all the Label Rouge specifications are being met. (I should perhaps mention at this point that I was provided with overalls, shoes and a hairnet before being allowed into the egg room; there is every indication that hygiene is taken very seriously here.) Jean-Yves adds that he finds CECAB very supportive on the technical side, and they have a team of specialist advisors who come out to visit producers if required. The Boufforts, it seems, have no complaints at all. "Eggs are doing well at the moment," Jean-Yves says with a smile.
Do Free Range producers in France operate in the same way as in Britain? Are their rules the same as ours? Are their eggs as good as ours? How have they coped with the rise in feed prices? What do French consumers want from their eggs? 'The Ranger' has been meeting French Free Range producers, industry representatives and retailers to find out the answers to these and other questions.
From the Nestbox to the Shelf
ADVERTISEMENT
 |
No French supermarket has committed to Free Range, and Pascale Magdelaine, of ITAVI, says that at present it hard to imagine that this will ever happen. A letter was recently sent to the head of E. Leclerc asking the company if it would commit to selling only eggs produced in alternative systems. The response was negative; Leclerc will continue to offer the full range and leave the choice to the consumer. Battery eggs account for 70% of Leclerc's egg sales.
Food Groups
Major food groups (groupes agro-alimentaire) involved in egg production include Glon, Groupe Appro, Groupe LDC and CECAB (Central Co-operative Agricole Bretagne). The market-leading CECAB group was formed 40 years ago through the merger of five co-operatives in the Morbihan region of Brittany. It is structured into five operating divisions: agricultural activities, canned food, frozen food, meat, and eggs. Across these divisions it has around 8,000 producer members, all in Brittany. When CECAB first came into being in 1968 eggs were a small part of its activities; there were just 20 egg producers amongst its membership, with 60,000 hens between them. By 2006 this had grown to 75 egg producer members with a total of 1,678,000 hens, producing 487,000,000 eggs a year. Of these, 20% are non-cage. Eggs from CECAB's producers are supplied to Matines. It is Matines, and not CECAB, who markets the eggs and negotiates with the retailers.
Co-operatives are a strong force in French agribusiness, accounting for on average around 40% of the total 'agro-alimentaire' market. A report on the role of co-operatives by Coop de France in 2005 analysed their share of the marketplace by sector and found that it varied from around 90% down to 20% or even less; in the case of eggs, it was 30%. In keeping with the co-operative ethos, these groups have a history of working closely with the producer, for instance by selling feed to their producers at discounted prices and providing advice and assistance in business matters such as building a new poultry house. Nine out of ten French farmers belong to at least one farmers co-operative.
Free Range Egg Brands
There are a number of strong national brands that dominate the retail marketplace. Packers sometimes use two brand names to differentiate between products; Group Appro, for instance, markets its eggs from alternative production systems as La Mère Poulard and its cage eggs as Lustucru; CECAB's Label Rouge Free Range are branded Mas d'Auge. There may be a range of specialities within one 'label' such as standard Free Range, Label Rouge, Free Range Omega 3, Organic, Organic Omega 3, etc. In many cases the brand is supported by a website where customers can find out more about how the eggs were produced, general information about eggs, recipes etc. Cocorette has an English version of their website at http://web.lerelaisinternet.com/cocorette/an/index.php; Cocorette sells only Free Range eggs that have been laid in straw nests, collected by hand and produced on farms that keep only a very small number of hens. It is claimed that after the hen has laid an egg is laid in straw she sits on it for a short time while the shell dries, and this makes shell less porous to microbes.
Leading egg brand Matines was launched in 1985 as a co-operative venture between ten regional organisations. The brand rapidly gained a large share of the market, and Matines became a company in its own right in 1990. Free Range eggs were introduced into its range 1987 and organic in 1992.
Another major brand is Loué, produced by member of the farmers co-operative CAFEL (Co-operative Agricole des Fermiers de Loué) which celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. CAFEL has a significant part of the chicken market. Its chicken is also sold under the Loué label; Loué Label Rouge chicken is very well known. A claim to fame is that CAFEL was the first farmers organisation to advertise on TV, with an advert for its chicken. The Loué egg range includes Label Rouge and Bio.
La Mère Poulard is the brand name for free range and organic eggs of Groupe Appro, which has a large share of the total retail egg market in France. We hope to report on an interview with M. Philippe Lalère, Marketing Director of Groupe Appro, in a future of edition of the Ranger, where we will invite him to explain in more detail the relationship between producer, food group and packer, the different types of egg contracts that producers can enter into, and the factors that are most important to consumers.
A very marked new trend is that the supermarkets' 'own brand' eggs have massively increased their share of the market in recent years. ITAVI's recent study shows that of total egg sales in supermarkets and hypermarkets in 2007, 'own brands' accounted for 52% of volume and 48% of value.
Adding Value through Freshness
French consumers are particularly concerned with freshness, so one way of 'adding value' in all sectors, from organic to battery, is by stamping each individual egg with the date it was laid as well as the 'best before' date. Appro Lustucru was the first brand to do this, around four years ago, and was also the first to introduce extra fresh eggs (again, in the battery sector) that are brought onto the shelves within 24 hours of being laid. Boxes of eggs stamped with the date laid, and promising extra freshness, account for a large proportion of speciality eggs.
There's Free Range ... and there's Label Rouge
'Label Rouge' is the big success story of the Free Range industry in France. The 'Label Rouge' scheme is a premium quality mark for free range poultry products, both eggs and meat. The scheme was begun in 1985 for poultry and Free Range eggs were included in 1998. Label Rouge imposes more stringent production standards than required under European legislation. The rules for Label Rouge have been approved by the French Ministry for Agriculture, and strict quality control is carried out by independent assessment bodies.
Label Rouge requires a lower external stocking density for hens. For standard Free Range production, producers in France must observe an external stocking density of 4 square metres minimum per hen (i.e. 2,500 hens per hectare) and an internal stocking density of 9 hens per square metre, with 4 levels permitted in multi-tier systems. For Label Rouge producers, the internal stocking level is the same, but the external requirement is 5 square metres minimum per hen. In addition, Label Rouge producers are limited to a maximum of 6,000 birds per house, and a maximum of two houses. For ordinary Free Range, there is no upper limit on the number of birds that a producer can keep.
There are additional requirements for Label Rouge relating to feed, egg collection and packing, and quality control. Feed must be 100% plant based with minerals and vitamins; it must include a minimum of 50% cereals; and it must contain no artificial colouring. Eggs must be collected at least twice a day, and the interval between laying and packing must not exceed 4 days. Label Rouge eggs are subject to regular organoleptic analysis and production units are regularly inspected by the approved certifying body.
Specifications for a particular brand may exceed those laid down by the scheme. For instance, some labels specify 75% cereal content for the food, and the Cocorette brand requires eggs to be laid on straw and collected by hand by farmers who keep only a small number of hens.
However, there may be a potential problem in putting too much emphasis on small scale production., because while it pleases the consumer it does not necessarily please the retailer. When the E. Leclerc supermarket was recently asked to phase out battery eggs, one of the reasons it gave for its refusal to do so (letter dated 7 March 2008) was that 'today's production methods are not adapted to allow us to increase our sales of eggs from alternative production units, due to the size of these units and the long certification process for organic or Label Rouge'.
Of total egg sales across France's major retailers in 2007, standard Free Range accounted for 14.9% of volume (an increase of 4% on 2006) and 17.5% of value (an increase of 8.5%), whilst Label Rouge Free Range accounted for 6.8% of volume and 11.6% of value (up by 12.3% and 11% respectively). In 1966, Label Rouge production comprised some 1.7 million hens, producing an average of 260.1 eggs each.
Organic
The organic ('Bio') sector is relatively strong in France. Organic egg sales in major retailers were at 5.8% in 2006, and organic eggs command a good premium over non-organic Free Range. However, organic egg producers feel disadvantaged by the current ruling that they must produce a minimum of 40% of feed on their own land. This is in accordance with the principle that in organic farming there should always be a link between livestock production and the land. It is predicted that this requirement will curb growth in the organic sector: some organic producers who were already operating before the ruling was introduced are unable to continue, while others who were considering converting to organic have been deterred by the ruling. It is also not permitted in France to keep organic and non-organic flocks on the same site.
CONSUMER CONFUSION?
It's not only in the UK where television and newspapers take an interest in food producers. Recently, eggs and egg production have been very much in the media spotlight in France. Last month (8th April) the television channel TF1 broadcast a documentary looking at various aspects of agricultural food production. Unfortunately I didn't see the programme, but the general opinion seems to be that it was well-informed and fair. Eggs were just one of many topics covered. It explained the EU codes stamped on eggs that tell consumers whether they are organic, Free Range, barn or cage, and then went on to conduct a little experiment: posing as a customer, the reporter went round market stalls asking for Free Range eggs. She was repeatedly sold cage eggs and assured that they were Free Range. In each case she then showed the vendor the code on the egg, asked for her money back and was duly reimbursed – until the last occasion, where the stallholder became very annoyed when she realised she was being filmed. An argument broke out and ended in eggs being thrown at the camera – much to the delight of the gathering crowds.
This deception should not have been too difficult to spot since all the eggs were plainly coded as cage eggs, but French consumers don't all understand the EC coding, some aren't even aware that there are codes stamped on eggs, and many of them rarely take the trouble to look. The documentary sparked lively feedback from shoppers who have themselves had similar experiences, and it seems that this has up to now been fairly common practice at markets. At least this programme seems to have succeeded in raising consumer awareness of the codes, so French egg-buyers should henceforth be less easily deceived. In fact, some brands now make it easier for consumers by actually stamping the words 'Plein Air' or 'Bio' on the egg itself, in addition to using the standard EC alphanumeric coding. (It would be fair to say, though, the quality and legibility of the stamping varies.)
ALTERNATIVE MARKETING CHANNELS
Under the rules of the French Ministry of Agriculture and Fishing, producers may sell their eggs direct to the public at markets within an 80km radius of the production site. The local market is still a thriving institution in France and many villages have their own weekly market. Some independent French producers are also finding customers via the internet, either by setting up their own website or by joining an AMAP. An AMAP (Association pour le Maintien d'une Agriculture Paysanne) is a local association set up to support producers. Consumers can subscribe online to their local AMAP, entering into an agreements with producers affiliated to the AMAP, and in return for an annual fee they receive an agreed amount of their chosen produce over the course of the year, generally delivered in the form of mixed boxes of vegetables, eggs and meat. This arrangement helps producers by providing them with a lump sum upfront that can be put towards their production costs. However, small scale production is declining steadily in France.
It possible, but unusual, for even a medium sized producer to operate without an egg contract Thierry Desplat is an organic Free Range producer at La Ferme de la Chauvellière, 35km south of Tours. He has around 6,000 hens and he also rears his own chicks from day-olds, in batches of 2,000. Thierry has chosen not to enter into a contract with an egg distributor. All his eggs, branded 'L'Oeuf Bio de Touraine', are sold locally in shops, or through a local distributor of organic produce who takes orders online either for collection from the depot or for home delivery, or through his local organic AMAP 'Bio En Brenne'.
SPONSOR A HEN
A highly innovative marketing idea is the 'hen contract' offered by La Ferme des Echancées, near Belfort. Organic Free Range producers Sopie and Eric Walger came up with this idea in 2003. At that time AI scares were severely affecting egg sales in France, and their annual contract with a local packer was not renewed. "We had to think of something quickly, or go out of business," says Sophie. And this was the scheme they came up with: for 41.80 euros, customers within a 40 km radius of La Ferme des Echancées can 'sponsor a hen' and receive a weekly delivery to their door of six large fresh organic eggs over a ten months period, then at the end of the ten months they receive their hen, either alive or ready for the oven (99% choose oven-ready). Sophie and Eric devised this scheme because they saw that their only chance of staying in egg production was to deliver door to door on a large scale, but they also realised that managing to catching all their customers at home to collect a few euros from them every week could prove an impossible task. Sophie and Eric now have 1,250 'hen contract' customers, and they estimate that their profit margins are around five times higher than an egg contract could provide – but, as Sophie points out, their workload has doubled because the administration is a job in itself. When I spoke to her on the phone, she was in the middle of sorting out a stack of queries from customers who had lost track of how many eggs they had already had and how many were still to come. "Providing customer care is an office job. It's very different from being a producer and spending the day looking after animals" – but, she adds, she has no regrets over starting the 'hen contract'. Their venture has already caught the imagination of the French media, and Sophie is delighted at the prospect of being mentioned in the Ranger In a recent TV documentary about the scheme customers were full of praise, saying they especially like the freshness of the eggs and the knowledge that they are supporting local producers.
SIX OF ONE, HALF A DOZEN OF THE OTHER?
Clearly there are many parallels between the Free Range marketplace in the two countries. A growing proportion of consumers in both countries are committed to buying premium shell eggs, but the catering and processed egg sectors are still dominated by cage eggs. A notable difference here is that MacDonalds in Britain has committed to Free Range, and MacDonalds in France – so far at least – has not. Both countries have developed premium shell egg categories that 'add value' to the basic Free Range concept; the UK has Freedom Food and the Lion Code, France has Label Rouge. Both countries have 'niche' products, but the slant is slightly different. In France, as in the UK traceability is important. But their successful niche product of eggs laid in straw nests has not, as far as I am aware, been tried in the UK, and I have not seen 'coloured eggs' in France, nor reference to any special breed of hen.. Above all French consumers are very keen to buy eggs as freshly laid as possible, and will pay a premium for this. In Britain, significantly more progress has been made in persuading the supermarkets to commit to Free Range. To date, shelf price seems to have been more of an issue in Britain, with French supermarkets being less reluctant to put up their prices; but this may be about to change as French consumers start to feel the pinch.
Broadly speaking, production practices in the two countries seem to be very similar. The same breeds are prevalent. On average it seems that French Free Range units are significantly smaller than their British counterparts; the restrictions imposed by Label Rouge are probably a factor in this, and there is great emphasis on the perceived link between smaller-scale production and superior quality. Consequently Free Range production tends to be carried out alongside other farming activities, and not as a main revenue stream. Organic livestock producers in France are required to produce at least 40% feed for their animals, and there is understandably a feeling that this puts them at a disadvantage in relation to organic producers in Belgium and the UK who are not subject to this requirement. Agricultural co-operatives have thriven in France, and my initial impression was that Free Range producers may have more favourable contracts than their UK counterparts due to the co-operative structure of many of the food groups, but hopefully we will be able to assess this more accurately after meeting the marketing director of Groupe Appro.
The list of differences and similarities could go on. One thing that became very clear is that France, like Britain, has dedicated Free Range producers who take pride in what they do, and some extremely competent and highly committed individuals and organisations working on behalf of Free Range producers: analysing the marketplace and responding to market trends; investigating ways of improving production techniques, animal welfare and egg quality; liaising with other sectors of the industry; representing the producers' interests to EC legislators; and in short doing everything possible to maximise the long-term success of Free Range.
BACKGROUND STATISTICS ON THE FREE RANGE INDUSTRY IN FRANCE
Figures quoted below are taken from the report entitled 'Le Marché des oeufs et des ovoproduits' written by Pascale Magdelaine and Agnes Braine of ITAVI (Institut Technique de L'Avicole) Service Economique
Production Statistics
ITAVI's recent report, published in March 2008, shows that France is still the EU's leading egg producer with 14.9 billion eggs per year, comfortably ahead of its nearest rival Spain at 12.8 billion (figures used are for 2006, the most recent available). However, only around 19% of egg production in France came from alternative systems (i.e. non-cage), as compared to 36% in the UK; and in fact alternative production systems lost ground slightly in France in 2006. Of all the European countries, the UK has the highest proportion of non-organic Free Range production and France has the second highest proportion, but the gap is wide: 27% and 12% of national production respectively. Perhaps surprisingly in view of the above, Organic Free Range accounts for the same percentage of total national egg production in both countries, at around 3%. Split down by number of birds in each system, Free Range production in France is composed of an estimated 1.6 million organic layers, 1.7 million 'Label Rouge' (superior quality) Free Range layers, 4 million standard (i.e non-Label Rouge) Free Range and 1.4 million barn. Label Rouge Free Range is France's fastest growing egg sector.
Shell Egg Consumption
Over the three-year period 2005/6/7, the average person in the UK consumed a total of 180 eggs. The average person in France consumed 245 eggs, made up of 169 shell eggs and 76 processed eggs. Of the shell eggs bought for home consumption (restaurants and catering excluded) in France in 2007, 5.9% were organic, 21.5% were Free Range, 1.4% were barn and 71.2% were cage. (Equivalent figures for the UK were: 6% organic, 27% Free Range, 4% barn and 63% cage.) The proportion of shell eggs eaten in France has been falling steadily in recent years.
Import/Export Market
Ever since 1996 France has imported more shell eggs than it exports. Historically, the value of imports used not to exceed the value of exports because imports were at the lower end of the market and exports were at the higher end. However, since 2000 this has no longer been the case, and in the last two years the financial deficit has grown. In 2007 France's main overseas supplier was Spain, and its main overseas customer was Belgium, followed by Germany, followed by the UK. In the previous year, 2005, the UK had been France's main overseas customer.
France's Egg Market
Between December 2006 and December 2007, egg prices to the consumer rose by 11.3%, with a sharp increase occurring in the latter half of the year, reflecting the rise in feed prices. However, over the three years prior to this egg prices in the shops been falling steadily, and a situation had arisen where the volume of egg sales in supermarkets and hypermarkets had risen but the value of the sales had fallen. The major factor that led to this unusual situation was heightened competition between the major egg brands. As a result, the increases in 2007 have in effect done little more than restore prices to their previous level. So far the price rises have not deterred consumers; in 2007 overall egg sales increased in both volume and in value, with most of the increase deriving from Organic, Label Rouge and Free Range.
SUPPLY/PRODUCTION CHAIN
In the Production Unit
Breeds most frequently used in egg production are ISA, Lohmann and Hyline. ITAVI's statistics for 2006 showed that the average age at which birds came into lay was 123.9 days for standard Free Range (a 1.4% reduction over the previous year) and 124.9 days for organic (0.3% increase). Average length of lay was 331.6 days in the standard Free Range sector (1.4% increase) and 338 days for organic (5.4% increase). The average standard Free Range hen produced 262.5 eggs, and the average organic hen 261.8 eggs. The feed ratio was 2.47 kg feed/kg egg standard Free Range, and 2.64 kg feed/kg egg organic.
A 'LABEL ROUGE' PRODUCER
M. Jean-Yves and Mme. Brigitte Bouffort keep 15,800 Free Range ISA Warren at their farm near Mur-de-Bretagne, in central Brittany. For administrative purposes the free range side of the farm is officially registered to Mme. Bouffort and the arable side to M. Bouffort, though in practice they share the work. Their henhouse, which has Vencomatic nestboxes and automatic egg collection, was purpose-built when they embarked on Free Range in 1990/91. The Boufforts have a premium 'Label Rouge' egg contract with CECAB, and their eggs are marketed by Matines under their Label Rouge brand Mas d'Auge.
Jean-Yves explained that they were offered a choice of contractual terms by CECAB, and they opted for terms that allow them less independence but greater protection from fluctuations in the marketplace. He says that the recent rises in feed costs have not affected him at all as he does not pay for feed. Apart from the energy bills, he and his wife are only responsible for providing and maintaining the henhouse and range, and the equipment, and providing the labour. The birds and the feed are provided and paid for by CECAB. The Boufforts receive a fixed price per egg; CECAB collects three times a week and takes all the eggs, with seconds being paid at a lower rate.
M. Bouffort is extremely happy with the arrangement. If he had opted for a contract where he paid for hens and/or feed, the price per egg would have been higher; but the Boufforts – a young couple with a family – did careful calculations and decided that in the longer term this contract would be best for them. They like it because there are no large bills to pay, and they have the security of a fixed regular income over the term of the contract; the only factor that might affect their income slightly is productivity. "Even if there is another egg crisis – which let's pray there isn't – our income is still assured for the duration of the contract," says Jean-Yves. He has also heard, unofficially, that there is a possibility the price they receive per egg might be increased slightly later this year to take into account the increased cost of electricity used in the henhouse.
"I'm not tied into my contract with CECAB. I could tear it up tomorrow if I wanted," he continues. "But I have no reason to. Both sides are happy, and as long as that is the case we will want to carry on working together." He adds, though, that other companies may not be quite so flexible, and he thinks it is because CECAB is essentially a farmers' co-operative that they work so closely with the producers. "They listen to us. For instance, CECAB provides the chicks, but they wouldn't send me a breed that I didn't want. If I wasn't happy with this flock I would tell them, and next time we would try a different breed." In fact, he adds, it is a good flock and he doesn't want to change.
Jean-Yves clearly takes pride in being a Label Rouge producer. The quality control checks are strict, he says; in additional to the regular testing for Salmonella, CECAB also sends inspectors to carry out quality checks and ensure that all the Label Rouge specifications are being met. (I should perhaps mention at this point that I was provided with overalls, shoes and a hairnet before being allowed into the egg room; there is every indication that hygiene is taken very seriously here.) Jean-Yves adds that he finds CECAB very supportive on the technical side, and they have a team of specialist advisors who come out to visit producers if required. The Boufforts, it seems, have no complaints at all. "Eggs are doing well at the moment," Jean-Yves says with a smile.
Back to news index
You must be logged in to post a comment. To login CLICK HERE
No Comments
Nobody has posted any comments on this story.
