Having lived in the UK for nearly 10 years now, every time I go back to France I’m still struck by how different the food industry is and how this impacts diets. It is no secret that the French are very proud of their food culture (I know I am!) and the environment around us does shape the type of food we buy and eat.
Whether it is the fresh outdoor markets one goes to every weekend, the bakery down your road where you get your fresh bread every day or their butchers advising customers on the best cut of meat, for many French people food is at the centre of social life and is very much part of the national culture. Most people shop at supermarkets nowadays, perhaps due to convenience they offer, the wide variety of choice and the different budgets supermarkets cater for.
So, what can British supermarkets learn from their French counterparts to promote healthier eating?
Fresh produce layout can change perception from boring to exciting
Stepping inside French supermarkets, often the fresh produce is laid out in such an attractive but simple way, your eye is drawn to it; fresh food is often placed near the entrance to entice consumers. The pictures below were taken in the fresh produce section of French supermarket Auchan, which would be equivalent in terms of product quality and price to Sainsbury’s.
I don’t know about you, but I’ve never seen the veg and fruit laid out in such a way in Sainsbury’s, especially when going there for my weekly shop on a busy Saturday
morning! This layout also replicates to some extent the fresh markets that are very much present in French food culture.
This made me think about how the environment we are in shapes our decision-making process when it comes to food shopping.
These are some of the things that I love about French supermarkets, and think we could do a better job of in the UK when it comes to fresh produce:
· No useless packaging – meaning less plastic waste and pollution. Loose fruit and vegetables also means that you can choose how many items you actually want/need instead of having to buy a full pack, which in turn reduces food waste.
· Little boards above the product clearly state the country of origin making this information easy to spot and encourages consumers to buy locally produced food. In the UK, you often have to read the packaging, making it so much more time-consuming and therefore difficult to buy British!
· A neat but simple layout makes the vegetables and fruit stand out and look delicious – you are more likely to add a pepper or kiwi to your basket, encouraging healthier diets!
Beyond fresh produce, another key interesting difference between UK and French supermarkets is the way organic products are presented to consumers. The organic aisle: a clearer shopping experience in France. Organic farming is a bigger market in France than the UK. In 2022, France had the most farmland under organic management than any other European country with a total of 2.9 million hectares. France was also the second largest market for organic food after Germany with retail sales of 12.1 billion in (FiBL, 2024).
Compared to the UK, France has many organic-only supermarkets, where you can buy anything from an organic yogurt or meat to organic kombucha and skincare as well as household products. In French supermarkets, there is a dedicated organic section (as can be seen from the picture on the right) so if there is a particular product you are after, you do not need to attentively browse the product section amongst the other non-organic product. Brands that operate in the organic market can put their products directly in front of the right customers.
Shopping for organic products in the UK is not made easy by the fact that in supermarkets, items are spread within the store and stay in their item category i.e. organic tea will be in the standard tea/coffee section, organic milk in the dairy section etc. The food shopper experience is not thought about as much, whereas French supermarkets stage food to enhance it, giving it an importance that British supermarkets fail to do. The special place that food holds is replicated in the French food culture, where structured mealtime are prioritised instead of the ‘grab-and-go’ culture most prominent in the UK, where convenience takes over. The UK also has a significant takeaway culture, whereas the French have a preference for sit-down meals, cooked with fresh ingredients.
The UK does have some way to go to value more its food culture and put healthy diets at the heart of it. It is encouraging to see some steps are being taken, but I think that unless supermarkets are incentivised to rethink store layouts and food presentation to truly showcase the produce and support the British consumer in valuing their food better, it will be difficult to drive the cultural shift needed to prioritise healthier diets and improve sustainability of the whole food chain.
Marie Charles
Research Manager, Grounded Research.
WiFF Operations Team.
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