<\/p>\n
At the March\u00e9 International de Rungis, the giant wholesale food market known as \u201cThe belly of Paris\u201d, cheese supplier Philippe Ammiche finds it increasingly difficult to navigate the endless stacks of boxes from Italy.<\/p>\n
An hour\u2019s drive away in Beauce, a region celebrated as the granary of France, wheat farmer Eric Thirouin is facing a fourth year of losses amid searing heat and questions over the future of his 500-year-old farm.<\/p>\n
Further south in Languedoc, such existential concern is already playing out for winemaker Franck Saillan as he prepares to pull up vines and reduce output.<\/p>\n
When it comes to eating and drinking, wine, cheese and bread are the trinity that underpin French identity. Yet they also now represent the biggest challenge to the country\u2019s mantle as Europe\u2019s pre-eminent food nation as people cook differently, booze less and producers get squeezed.<\/p>\n
Philippe Ammiche, CEO of Buisson, a cheese and deli meat wholesaler at the Rungis Market, on 3 June. Image: Cyril Marcilhacy\/Bloomberg<\/p>\n
From the sugar industry shaped by Napoleon now witnessing factory closures\u00a0to the wheat exports squeezed by lower-cost giants like Russia, the decline is visible across the landscape of a country that over centuries conquered the world\u2019s palate.<\/p>\n
Exports of wine are at the lowest in more than 15 years.\u00a0Mozzarella is competing with\u00a0local cheese, and one in two chickens consumed on French soil arrives from abroad. Last year\u2019s agrifood surplus tumbled to the lowest level in almost five\u00a0decades.<\/p>\n
Spain\u00a0looks on track to overtake France as Europe\u2019s biggest producer in a few years and Italy and Poland might follow.<\/p>\n
Read:
France 2024 wine production seen dropping 22% on bad weather
Champagne shipments tumble again as luxury slowdown worsens<\/p>\n
That all prompted President Emmanuel Macron\u2019s government to declare an \u201cagricultural war\u201d. It fast-tracked an emergency law with measures ranging from giving priority to French products in schools to easing rules on expanding buildings for livestock, pesticides and vital irrigation projects, a constant gripe for many farmers. The law was adopted in August.<\/p>\n
The government also said it will soon announce a support package worth several hundred million euros\u00a0to compensate farmers whose crops have been hit hard by drought and heat waves this summer.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Warnings\u00a0over the decline of\u00a0French food have run for more than a century, from worries over a loss of culinary leadership to the Spanish to declining standards and a takeover by McDonald\u2019s. French farmers have also never been shy about ringing the alarm bell over their livelihoods.<\/p>\n
While the country remains a major global producer, la crise is now running deeper into the terroir, blunting France\u2019s soft power and\u00a0adding pressure from a vital political constituency ahead of next year\u2019s presidential elections.<\/p>\n
The reasons behind the shift are multifold.<\/p>\n
Farm output was hit by broader trends like trade wars, economic slowdown and a string of animal diseases. This year\u2019s Iran conflict increased fertilizer and fuel costs.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s on top of being whacked by climate change. This year\u00a0is shaping up to be one of France\u2019s most destructive wildfire seasons of\u00a0recent years, the images broadcast around the world as flames headed toward Bordeaux during the summer. Almost\u00a096,500 hectares have already been burned, more\u00a0than two and a half times the area in\u00a0all of 2025.<\/p>\n
Some problems, though, have been self-inflicted. France, perhaps, has taken its distinction\u00a0as a top producer\u00a0for granted.<\/p>\n
\u201cMany of our strengths and certainties have been shaken,\u201d said S\u00e9bastien Abis, an associate\u00a0research fellow at the French Institute for International and Strategic Affairs, a Paris-based think tank.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe rest of the world has accelerated, while France has perhaps stood still. The question facing French agriculture and the food sector is whether we are willing to become ambitious again.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bordeaux is synonymous with France\u2019s wine and food culture. Image: Cyril Marcilhacy\/Bloomberg<\/p>\n
In Carcassonne, vineyards ripple across the sun-drenched plains surrounding the city\u2019s medieval fortress, where visitors linger in stone courtyards, savor local wines and order dishes like duck confit.<\/p>\n
Winemakers in the region, about 700 kilometers (440 miles) south of Paris, make Pays d\u2019Oc wines. Home to some of France\u2019s oldest vineyards, the area is known for its robust, fruity reds. Saillan\u2019s family has been making wine for over 400 years in the village of Villemoustaussou.<\/p>\n
ADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n
CONTINUE READING BELOW<\/p>\n
Read: How the world of wine is set to change in 2026<\/p>\n
He\u2019s seen the Aude plains around Carcassonne go from severe droughts to repeated flooding in recent years. Last summer, the area was ravaged by wildfires that destroyed about half of the region\u2019s wine yields.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve had a huge number of problems piling up,\u201d said Saillan. \u201cWe experienced a cumulative effect of both drought and heatwaves. It was truly catastrophic.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Wines and spirits are France\u2019s top agrifood export, and sales abroad have continued to slide further in 2026 because of Donald Trump\u2019s tariffs, weaker demand from China and people drinking less alcohol. Extreme weather, meanwhile, resulted in one of the smallest harvests in five decades last year.<\/p>\n
Home to a 10th of the world\u2019s vineyards, France has lost a third of the vine area in the past 50 years and it\u2019s set for more cuts. As part of efforts to reduce capacity, improve quality and ultimately lift prices, the government is paying winemakers to uproot their vines.<\/p>\n
Once this year\u2019s campaign is done, they would have uprooted some 54 000 hectares of vines at a cost of \u20ac217 million ($252 million) for the past two years, according to the agriculture ministry. Some wine will go into a hand disinfectant.<\/p>\n
Uprooted vines in the Cognac region of southwestern France. Image: Cyril Marcilhacy\/Bloomberg<\/p>\n
Saillan will get some \u20ac40 000 in compensation to remove 10 hectares of his 58 hectares of vines, which will then be used by his neighbour to grow grains. \u201cEconomically, it\u2019s starting to become very difficult,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Food has been a tool of soft power for France since the 17th century when Louis XIV\u2019s lavish banquets at Versailles projected wealth and prestige to dazzle royals who copied French etiquette and even French culinary language.<\/p>\n
France, however, only transformed into a global food exporter after severe shortages\u00a0caused by World War II.<\/p>\n
Mechanisation, fertilisers and farm consolidation put things in motion and under President Charles de Gaulle a myriad of family farms would be part of the social foundation of the nation. The European Union\u2019s Common Agricultural Policy came in 1962 with money for farmers.<\/p>\n
Read: LVMH fashion unit\u2019s return to growth held back by Iran war<\/p>\n
As West Germany built Europe\u2019s industrial powerhouse, France became one of the most productive in the world to dominate grains trading, wine and dairy. But over time, the narrative evolved into the production of\u00a0exclusivity.<\/p>\n
France pioneered the protection of regional food and wine names and the Michelin star system for restaurants, setting the global standard for culinary excellence.<\/p>\n
The government began to prioritise exports of premium products like Champagne, fine wines, foie gras and artisanal brie, somewhat \u201clike the LVMH model exporting major French luxury textile brands,\u201d said Yannick Fialip, president of the National Center for the Promotion of Agricultural and Food Products. \u201cOver the long term, we can see that this was a mistake.\u201d<\/p>\n
French exports have been vulnerable to any economic slowdowns or geopolitical retaliation in their buying countries, like when China curbed France\u2019s Cognac imports or when Trump imposed huge tariffs on its wine bottles.<\/p>\n
In contrast, more widely accessible and affordable Italian produce has expanded. While French exports rose 2% last year, Italian agrifood exports rose 5%.<\/p>\n
Earlier this year, farmers drove tractors and threw\u00a0potatoes in Paris to protest against the EU trade deal with Mercosur while the French government sought to position itself as their defender against the deal with Latin American producers.<\/p>\n
In 2024, they were among the most prominent in a wave of protests across Europe, prompting a review of EU green policies. France is still the top recipient of EU farm subsidies, receiving on average about \u20ac9 billion a year.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrench farmers have a very well deserved reputation for protesting,\u201d said\u00a0Venus Bivar, associate professor of environmental history at Oxford University. \u201cThey have a sense of entitlement when it comes to what they\u2019re owed by the EU and the French state.\u201d<\/p>\n
But there are more profound forces beyond politics. The lockdowns during the Covid pandemic and the rising cost of living added to societal shifts \u2013 what and where people eat, how they cook and how much they drink.<\/p>\n
The Covid pandemic added to the shift in French eating and drinking habits. Image: Cyril Marcilhacy\/Bloomberg<\/p>\n
ADVERTISEMENT:<\/p>\n
CONTINUE READING BELOW<\/p>\n
While Brits or Americans headed out for a sandwich for lunch break at work, the French would traditionally head to a bistrot for a prix fixe set-menu. Covid changed that as employers adopted work-from-home policies, according to Fabrice Sommier, who heads France\u2019s union of sommeliers.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs a result, the restaurant sector and the broader economic fabric around it have suffered greatly,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The French also spend less time cooking, especially the under 35s. They are more likely than their elders to reach for ready-made meals and are fond of pizzas, gratins and salads. Culinary habits are changing through faster preparation, more convenient formats and increased snacking.<\/p>\n
Then there\u2019s the appeal of easier-to-cook Italian food and ingredients like olive oil, tomato sauces, prosciutto, pasta and, of course, cheese.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Located on the southern outskirts of Paris, Rungis calls itself\u00a0the world\u2019s biggest\u00a0fresh food market and feeds 18 million people every day. Some 3 million tons of seafood, meat, dairy and fruit and vegetable products pass through it each year, 40% of it coming from abroad.<\/p>\n
Buisson is running out of space as demand for imported cheese grows. Image: Cyril Marcilhacy\/Bloomberg<\/p>\n
Cheese wholesaler Buisson is planning to move to a location at the market that\u2019s twice as big to accommodate the endless stacks of Italian products that arrive, said Ammiche, the firm\u2019s chief executive officer.<\/p>\n
Buisson, which imports mozzarella di bufala, burrata, and parmigiano reggiano, had record sales for Italian cheeses in May, selling more than five tons a day, up from hardly two tons six years ago. Italian cheeses now represent about 40% of the company\u2019s sales, said Ammiche.<\/p>\n
Indeed, Buisson\u2019s head of Italian cheese, Marco Di Tommaso, reckons France \u2013 home to more than 1 200 cheeses \u2013 may consume more mozzarella than Camembert nowadays.<\/p>\n
\u201cWithout even realizing it, everyone uses Italian products,\u201d Ammiche explains, as he watches employees rushing in Buisson\u2019s chilled halls at Rungis to fill an endless stream of refrigerated trucks with boxes of mozzarella.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn France, cheese is mostly eaten on its own, or at the end of a meal. In Italy, many cheeses are used as ingredients. It\u2019s a completely different way of consuming cheese.\u201d<\/p>\n
Italian cheeses now represent about 40% of Buisson\u2019s sales. Image: Cyril Marcilhacy\/Bloomberg<\/p>\n
At Procope, a Paris caf\u00e9 dating back to 1686, tourists line up to taste French classics like snails and coq-au-vin in the lavish historic rooms that hosted famous writers and enlightened revolutionaries like Voltaire, Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Benjamin Franklin.<\/p>\n
Today, you can order a three-course \u201cMenu for the Revolutionaries\u201d for \u20ac49.50 showing an invasion of Italian products: beef carpaccio with parmigiano, burrata from Puglia, and a tiramisu with mascarpone.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not just an Italian invasion. Almost\u00a0half of cheese imports come from Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and the UK, countries that have invested in processing capacity for export.<\/p>\n
Supermarkets in Paris have fridges full of feta from Greece, halloumi from Cyprus or cheddars from the UK. Popular charcuterie come from Spain and Italy.<\/p>\n
Read: High-end coffee supply tightens<\/p>\n
At \u20ac181\u00a0million, last year\u2019s agrifood surplus was the lowest since the late 1970s, according to government data. Imports were driven by higher cocoa and coffee prices, outpacing a sluggish increase in exports. The surplus\u00a0was \u20ac5\u00a0billion in 2024.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are the leading agricultural power, and we\u2019re falling behind,\u201d said wheat farmer Thirouin. \u201cThe problem is France. It\u2019s in the process of being overtaken. France has to wake up, otherwise we\u2019ll end up with a country that depends on others and is no longer sovereign at all.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thirouin\u2019s family has been growing grains since at least 1540 in the heart of the Beauce, the fertile plains of farmlands between the Seine and Loire rivers. He cultivates 210 hectares of wheat, barley, corn and rapeseed. He was looking forward to passing the farm on to his son, but he\u2019s got doubts.<\/p>\n
ADVERTISEMENT:<\/p>\n
CONTINUE READING BELOW<\/p>\n
\u201cMy son joined me at the farm in 2015, and I\u2019m anxious about his future,\u201d said Thirouin. \u201cNow he tells me, \u2018Maybe I should quit,\u2019 and I don\u2019t know what to say to him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wheat farmers, who supply the core ingredient for France\u2019s baguettes and croissants, are at the sharp end of the shift in France\u2019s status as an agri-powerhouse.<\/p>\n
Baguettes remain a daily French staple. Image: Cyril Marcilhacy\/Bloomberg<\/p>\n
The romantic tradition of small, family-owned farms passed down through centuries now struggles to compete against lower-cost rivals like Russia, and the industrial-scale operations of the US and Australia. Political tensions have seen top buyers like Algeria halt wheat purchases entirely.<\/p>\n
\u201cTen years ago, we were selling to the Russians. With climate change, they are now producers \u2013 in fact, the leading exporters,\u201d Macron said in February when visiting a farm in Haute-Sa\u00f4ne, eastern France. \u201cWe need to adapt our strategy. We must not give up,\u201d he told reporters.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
The number of French farms has dropped 75% since the 1970s to 390 000, even as agriculture kept much of its political status. In just four years, nearly half of France\u2019s farmers will have retired, according to the Ministry for Agriculture.<\/p>\n
The government has responded with measures to help young and new farmers enter the profession, making it easier to buy or take over farms and improving access to financing. It also plans to increase agricultural students by 30%, agronomic engineers by 30% and veterinarians trained in France by 75% by 2030.<\/p>\n
For Thirouin, the experience of recent years has brought his son to the point of wondering whether it\u2019s worth taking over the family farm.<\/p>\n
In 2023, he had to deal with an explosion in the price of fertilisers in the aftermath of Russia\u2019s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. A year later, France experienced the worst harvest in four decades, so while wheat prices were more or less acceptable and costs had gone down, he didn\u2019t have enough to sell.<\/p>\n
Last year, his farm had the wheat, but prices collapsed.<\/p>\n
This year, rising fertiliser and fuel costs brought about by the Iran war have further pushed up farmer costs. Heat waves engulfed the country since May, hurting corn production and wheat yields.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re right in the thick of it because we\u2019re currently in harvest season, while dealing with extreme heat, and we\u2019re watching the crops that are due to be harvested this autumn deteriorate completely,\u201d said\u00a0Thirouin.<\/p>\n
\u201cMany French farmers are asking themselves: \u2018Should I sow a fifth consecutive crop knowing I\u2019ll lose money again?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Read: Global food prices hit three-year high as supply fears build<\/p>\n
There is hope that the adaptation that Macron wants is coming. Roquefort cheesemakers, for example, called on the public to stick the\u00a0pungent cheese in anything from burgers to soups. Cognac producers are inventing\u00a0new cocktails, like berry mojitos and coladas infused with the brandy.<\/p>\n
A cheesemonger serves a customer at a deli in Paris. Image: Cyril Marcilhacy\/Bloomberg<\/p>\n
In Carcassonne, Saillan is going the other way: less booze all together. Together with his wine merchants, he\u2019s planning to join a growing number of vintners seeking to produce low-alcohol wines or even zero-alcohol wines, which are gaining in popularity.<\/p>\n
The merchants and buyers have invested in de-alcoholisation and Saillan believes they could help introduce wine to younger consumers. The flagship Wine Paris expo in February now is preceded by three alcohol-free tasting events in Lyon, Marseille and Paris.<\/p>\n
Read: The boom in beer that\u2019s being driven by health-conscious drinkers<\/p>\n
Producers like him need to move beyond tradition and figure out how to cater to new tastes and demands, said Saillan. \u201cWhat we were doing 20, 30 or 50 years ago may now be outdated,\u201d he said. \u201cIn France, wine is central to our culture, and perhaps we\u2019ve become prisoners of our own convictions.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u00a9 2026 Bloomberg<\/p>\n
#Frances #sacred #food #culture #faces #existential #reckoning<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
At the March\u00e9 International de Rungis, the giant wholesale food market known as \u201cThe belly…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4],"tags":[898,20801,712,1261,16374,5988,20800],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stock999.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15344"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stock999.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stock999.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stock999.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stock999.top\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=15344"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/stock999.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15344\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stock999.top\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=15344"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stock999.top\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=15344"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stock999.top\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=15344"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}