The snack food and take away markets represent a turnover of €23.5 Bn, which breaks down as follows: 28% in cafés, 23% for fast-food outlets, 13% for franchises (large stadiums, multiplexes, leisure parks, etc.), 12% for food shops (bakers, patisseries, delicatessens, etc.), 10% for mobile, seasonal and daily circuit food outlets, 8% for transportation sites (motorway stopovers, SNCF stations, etc.), 4% for service stations and 2% for delicatessen departments at major retail outlets. The French market records growth at two to three times the rate of the conventional catering sector (up 13% per year over thirty years for snack foods against 5% a year for conventional catering products). There are nearly 240,000 businesses offering snack food and mobile food products. Savoury snacks represent 40% of consumption patterns, sandwiches 23% and sweets 16%. Over the whole market, there is a relative balance between sales of food and drink. At major retail outlets, sales have increased by 11.9% in volume and 9.9% in value (i.e. 10% of the turnover of a self-service delicatessen). Businesses that do not directly belong to the restaurant sector dominate with nearly 75% of the sales outlets including 115,000 food stores (bakers, patisseries, delicatessens, etc.), 38,000 non-food businesses (newsagents, newspaper kiosks), 31,000 local stores (traditional grocers and local supermarket), not forgetting over 4,500 shops (from service stations to the delicatessen department in 10,000 major retail outlets). For the last ten years, snack foods have underpinned growth in outside-the-home food consumption. An analysis of the different catering segments demonstrated that the 'super-saver' segment' (under €10: fast food outlets, snack food stores, self-service stores, etc.) has recorded the strongest growth (up 67%) ahead of the 'gourmet' sector (over € 30: gastronomic catering), up by 3%. The other intermediate segments include: 'economy' (between €10 and €15: pizzerias, ethnic restaurants, theme-based restaurants), 'intermediate' (between €15 and €20: grill, traditional), and 'top-of-the-range' (between €20 and €30: traditional/gastronomic) which have seen drops of 11%, 12% and 7% respectively.

Throughout the market, the humble sandwich has changed out of all recognition over the last few years. The most evident proof of this change is the setting up of sandwich bars in fast food chains, which now account for a third of sales outlets; hamburger joints count for a small third, while the remainder is divided between the other catering concepts. In Europe, there is on average one chain store sandwich bar for 41,000 inhabitants, this concept being the most popular there, except in Scandinavian countries and Benelux. There is a greater number of companies investing in the snack food sector than in other catering concepts, leading us to suppose that this business opportunity has greater potential than the other catering segments. Likewise, businesses running sandwich bars count a significant number of bread making groups. American stores only own 9% of sandwich bars while they hold 54% of all other fast food sales outlets. Sandwich bars are renovated on a regular basis, and are tending to get bigger to provide more comfortable areas for eating in. Clearly, the sandwich sector is seeking to distance itself from the fast food concept by providing a warmer welcome and more comfortable surroundings. All these items demonstrate the dynamism of this segment which will surely see further growth over the next few years. Moreover, the sandwich sector, and in a larger sense, the snack food sector, are quick to integrate new food trends, with products and menus designed to combine pleasure with balanced nutritional content. Recipes are created by diet specialists who factor in the need sought by consumers who are prepared to pay more for a high-quality, or even organic or top-of-the-range product. New concepts are constantly being introduced such as formulas, i.e. sandwich+dessert+bottle of water, 'halal' certified sandwiches, low fat sandwiches, sandwiches with exotic flavours, to name just a few.

Soups are making a strong comeback in take away food offers. This offer's key selling point is its combination with a mobile consumption method which has the advantage of being as easy to carry as a hot drink (coffee or tea). It's also a good way of eating a variety of vegetables and making sure of getting your daily dose of vitamins. Soup is often served with a salad and is an ideal stomach filler. There is also a range of cold soups with variable sell-by-dates (15, 18, 21 days) that offer a range of recipes (vegetables, fish, etc.) and presentations. More and more, salads are seen as an ideal dietary choice and are considered a guaranteed value by consumers. When made with other ingredients such as eggs, ham, cheese, chicken, tuna, etc., salads guarantee the necessary intake of the main nutrients. Salads are increasingly making a feature out of their seasonality with a host of new compositions on offer (vegetables and fresh fruits, fresh herbs, quinoa and buckwheat, and so on).
Pasta dishes are also very popular with consumers and constitute one of the new consumption levers thanks to their original concepts.
The snack food phenomenon is also developing innovative drinks concepts. Smoothies (fruit drinks) combine a pleasant taste with health benefits through the diversity of the formulas and the range of available products. Like their American counterparts, French consumers have now enthusiastically embraced the 'mobile' concept (beer, coffee, fruit juices, liquid yoghurt, etc.). Snack food, take away and fast food catering are packaging-intensive industries. For example, sales of plastic trays are growing by 5% to 7% per year and sales of sandwich bags have progressed by 5%.
The snack food and fast food catering sectors have developed into a varied and nutritionally balanced method of eating; the foods found in this catering sector meet the nutritional recommendations of the public health organisations.
(Source: Gira Food Service, Ecole Ferrandi, Eurostaf)
Francis Duriez