4 reasons why labelling of origin in France could actually be an opportunity for Irish lamb?

Germain Milet, Market Specialist France, Belgium & Luxembourg

Image by: Germain Milet

Labelling of beef origin has been mandatory in France for 20 years. From the 1st of March 2022 it will be the same for lamb, pork and poultry bought raw by the restaurants. Quite an upset for exporters in a market like France! But the threat could actually be turned into an opportunity and this insightful article will highlight 4 reasons why.

 

1. French restaurants will not massively replace Irish lamb with French lamb. France imports 50% of the lamb it consumes and the share of imported lamb in restaurants is estimated over 80% ((A).CNE, 2016)). So even if they wished to, restaurants and caterers would never be able to source all the lamb they need in France.

2. French restaurants will not massively replace Irish lamb with other French meats. French meat sectors are already struggling to satisfy the needs of foodservice in terms of volume, quality and prices. 50% of beef ((B).Idele, 2019) more than 60% of poultry ((C). France info, 2022) and 20% of fresh pork ((D). Ifip) consumed in the French foodservice channel are imported. For pork the share of imported product would be higher if cooked and value added product were taken into account.

3. Labelling of origin could actually help raise awareness of Irish lamb in France. The Food Brand Ireland study on Irish lamb has shown that awareness of Irish lamb in France is low with only 23% associating Ireland with lamb (35% for NZ, 17% for UK), ((E). Bord Bia, 2021). In that sense having Irish origin associated with lamb more often restaurant could help raise awareness of Irish lamb in France.

4. Irish lamb seems to have a better image than its imported competitors. In the same Food Brand Ireland study, 68% of consumers regarding Ireland as a lamb producing country, said they would be ready to pay a premium for Irish lamb. A much better result than New-Zealand (54%) and United Kingdom (48%). ((E). Bord Bia, 2021).

Overall labelling of origin in the French foodservice channel can be seen as a mid-term threat for the lamb sector because it has the potential to accelerate the erosion of the market. But due to the market situation, a sharp drop of demand should not be expected from the 1^st of March. In addition recent consumer studies have shown there's potential to turn this threat into an opportunity as it can help raise the awareness of Irish lamb, benefitting from the good reputation of Irish food in France.

 

 

Sources :

A : https://idele.fr/?eID=cmis_download&oID=workspace%3A%2F%2FSpacesStore%2F5c30b4a1-5237-4c55-826c-25f258304c6c&cHash=72bc219c9438833cb961ad7bfae77dd9

B: https://www.interbev-normandie.fr/_medias/NORM/documents/4_pages_-_ou_va_le_boeuf_-_pour_interbev_-vf.pdf

C: https://www.francetvinfo.fr/sante/alimentation/l-origine-de-toutes-les-viandes-servies-en-restauration-francaise-devra-etre-indiquee-a-partir-du-1er-mars_4930595.html

D Ifip: estimate

E https://bordbia.bloomfire.eu/posts/2040660-food-brand-ireland-lamb-2021