France is unlikely to figure among most people's list of the most overweight European nations - unlike, say, the UK or Germany - but obesity levels are running at around 11.3 per cent of the overweight adult population, twice the level seen just two years ago.
A new report from French market analysts Xerfi shows that French consumers are no longer content to count on the Mediterranean diet of fish, olive oil and red wine to keep them trim. While the low-carb Atkins diet fad has yet to cross La Manche from the UK (and what future it would have in the land of the baguette and croissant is a cause for some debate), other dieting trends have become popular, not least the 'light' phenomenon.
'Diet' foods in France have traditionally been just that - products created specifically to help consumers lose weight - and the arrival of 'light' variants of popular products, low in fat or sugar, is relatively recent. So much so that Xerfi's estimate of last year's market size (€1.75 billion) does not include a number of products, such as light ready meals, soups, desserts, ice cream or pizzas, which were launched after its research was carried out.
The biggest category in the diet food market is fresh, chilled products such as yoghurts, which accounted for €688 million last year. Diet soft drinks rank second with sales of €501 million and low-fat spreads and edible oils are third with €370 million. Reflecting the relatively small size of the breakfast cereal market, healthy cereals came in a distant fourth with €136 million.
In total, sales of 'light' food products increased by 11 per cent during the year, nearly four times as much as sales of 'standard' food products, while specific diet food sales rose by 12 per cent.
But notwithstanding the steady laucnh of low-fat, low-calorie or low-sugar variants of mainstream food products, the biggest growth in the diet market in France is likely to come from supplements, Xerfi's report suggests. Sales of these products, from pills to patches, grew by 48 per cent in specialist stores and by 28 per cent in multiple grocers, giving combined total revenue of €105 million - a market created almost from nothing in just one year, according to the report.
Growth across all these categories was driven by the launch of a raft of new products, focusing in particular on making light and diet foods more appetising to sophisticated French palates. But while this has demonstrably had a beneficial effect on the market, it has also thrown up a number of issues which need to be resolved if future growth rates are to match - or indeed better - those seen in 2003.
These include the need to educate a largely ignorant French public of the benefits of diet and light foods - no easy task in the land of foie gras and camembert. With a plethora of products to choose from, each promising different benefits, the trick is to ensure that consumers choose the right product to achieve the level of weight loss desired - since they are unlikely to pick the same product twice if they feel it is ineffective.
Another factor likely to impact growth in 2004 is the downturn in the French economy which has hit the mainstream food retail sector particularly hard - at the same time as benefiting the discount stores - not a market conducive to selling larger volumes of high cost, high margin diet foods.
Advertising will be the key to growth, since only those products able to convey their benefits effectively - and persuade French consumers to fork out more money for them - are likely to succeed in the long term.