The key trend in the French alcoholic drinks market has been boire moindre mais mieux – drinking less but better. The problem is how to extract more money from consumers wanting to trade up but unwilling to pay a lot more for the privilege. Value growth is elusive in a market where volume sales pass increasingly through multiple food retailers, where pressure on prices is most intense. Margins are much higher in the on-trade, but the French are going out less and the traditional French bar with its zinc counter and Piaf on the hi-fi is rapidly disappearing.

Social and cultural changes in France have transformed expectations and perceptions. Wine remains a great Gallic institution, but long lunches are a thing of the past in the modern working environment and wine drinking is becoming an occasional, rather than a habitual pursuit. Women are now customers in their own right and the male orientation of the drinks market needs addressing. The market also has an old profile, except in a very few key segments, despite strenuous efforts to address the under-35s. Social trends are moving against the over-consumption of alcohol and towards healthier living – traditional drinking habits are changing rapidly, with a new breed of drinker demanding quality, novelty, longer drinks and a much improved drinking environment, all at rock-bottom prices.

The countries examined within the Consumer Goods Intelligence series of reports are France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK. Mintel last examined alcohol consumption in France in Drinking Habits, Consumer Goods Intelligence, December 2006. Some data have been revised since the previous report due to new information from the trade.