France is the 2nd chicken producer in the EU, behind Poland. Despite being the second European producer and disposing of a wide range of products, France does not produce enough of broiler meat for its national market.
The French poultry industry counts about 15 000 companies:
- 14 000 farms
- 80 hatcheries
- 300 feed manufacturers
- 76 slaughterhouses
- 400 processing companies.
The 3 main integrated companies (consisting of hatcheries, feed companies, production organisations and slaughterhouses) have >90% marketshare and they are – Terrena, LDC and Duc Plukon. The retail sector (e.g., Carrefour, Systeme U) as well as Government and some veterinarians have the greatest influence over the supply chain.
Over past 10 to 15 years, chicken meat has become segmented in France and new systems have appeared as each company tried to differentiate itself from its competitors.
Production | Standard | Certified | Label Rouge | Organic |
Breed | Fast growing | Intermediate | Slow growing | Slow growing |
Age at slaughter | 35-40d | 56d min | 81d min | 81d min |
Outdoor access | No | No | 2m² / bird or total liberty | 4m² / bird or total liberty |
Barn size | No limit 1000-2000m² | No limit 1000-2000m² | 400m² max | 480m² max |
Rearing density | 39 (42) kg/m² 20-25 birds | 39 kg/m² 18 birds | 25 kg/m² 11 birds | 25 kg/m² 10 birds |
Feed | Depending on brand | 65% min of cereals | 75% min of cereals | 95% organic ingredients No synthetic amino acid or coccidiostatic |