The specialist organic retail channel in France recorded its third best year in a decade in 2020-2021, reports the French grocery magazine Linéaires.
In a joint survey with NielsenIQ, Linéaires shows that there were 194 organic store openings in the 12 months ending in August 2021, bringing the total to 2,344. This represents a doubling of the previous year’s opening rate – although it’s not quite as high +350 store increases seen in 2018 and 2019.
Ten years ago France had just 846 specialist retail outlets. The rapid expansion of the channel mirrors the wider growth and interest in organic seen in France in recent years.
Last month Agence Bio reported that the French market for organic exceeded EUR 12 billion for the first time in 2020, and that organic’s share of the total food and drink industry is now an impressive 6.5%.
The Agence Bio survey shows that mass retail (hypermarkets supermarkets, discounters) account for 55% of organic retail sales, specialist organic chains 25, direct sales 11%, specialist independents 4%.
Image: La Vie Claire organic store, La Vie Claire (via Facebook)
