France’s frozen food sales dropped in value for the first time in 20 years last year, driven by a drop in home consumption, reported Le Figaro.
The drop, of 1.2% to €9.1 billion from €9.21bn in 2012, is due to the impact of the horsemeat scandal, which hit French ready-meals sales.
In volume, sales were down 2.2% from 2.12 million metric tons in 2012, said the frozen food producers association Les Entreprises des Glaces et Surgeles, which has 38 members.
The decrease is due to lower home consumption, especially of ready-meals. Frozen sales to households fell 2.8% to €5.5bn, from €5.6bn in 2012.
On average, each household spent €185.30 on frozen purchases, against €191 in 2012.
However, said the newspaper, the horsegate scandal effectively accentuated a trend that had already started in 2012. That year saw frozen sales drop in volume by 0.7%, but increase in value by 1.8% — again, this was largely due to a turning away from ready-meals.
French consumers spent more time buying whole products, rather than ready prepared ones, said the association. Whole vegetable sales for instance rose 0.9% from 2012.
The impact from the ‘horsegate’ was strongest during the weeks that followed the scandal’s eruption, with sales of meals based on beef dropping 45% in the first week of the scandal.
One of the first affected and implicated by the crisis was Findus France. However, the company then went on a media offensive and has said that the impact on its sales was shortlived. Meat and ready-meals only account for 5% and 10% of its sales, respectively.
Nestle, which was not directly implicated in the scandal, decided last October to close its lasagna and hachi parmentier factory in Bauvais, scrapping 120 jobs. The group said sales were still 25% down year-on-year in the autumn after the crisis.