World Grain - June 2013 - 29

FEATURE: RiSing up FRom the aSheS

France has long been one of the biggest flour producers in Europe as well
as the world.
The most recent figures from the
French millers association (Association Nationale de la Meunerie Francaise ) show that in 2011 France was
third among European flour millers
with 4.37 million tonnes of flour
produced, 15%, or 637,051 tonnes
of which was intended for export.
France ranks 11th in the world in
flour production.
The French millers association
noted that the share of exports in
all exchanges of flour is more important for France (68%) than the other
six major flour exporters in the E.U.
(Belgium, Germany, Spain, Italy and
the Netherlands).
There are approximately 380 milling
companies with 450 milling facilities
in France. Four companies — Grupe
Nutrixo, Soufflet, Grandes Moulins
de Strasbourg and Dijon Meunerie —
account for 57% of the milling market. Turnover among French milling
companies in 2011 was €2.1 billion,
according to the French milling association, which represents 299 units
of production or 95% of all of the nation’s flour production.
Other facts about the French milling
industry include:
• It uses about 5.56 million tonnes
of wheat;
• It employs nearly 6,000 workers;
• More than 64% of the flour produced is used in breadmaking.
France, once the leader in bread consumption in Europe, has relinquished
the No. 1 spot to Germany. It is estimated that bread consumption in France,
which in 1900 was around 900 grams
per person per day, is now at about 160
grams per person per day.
Baguettes are by far the most popular bread product with over 10 billion
produced in France per year, which
computes to a remarkable 320 baguettes per second.
www.World-Grain.com / World Grain / June 2013

exports top quality and premium flour
primarily to England, Belgium, Spain,
Sweden, Greece, China and Russia.
While some of its flour products are
shipped to other countries, Moulins
Bourgeois sources all of its wheat
domestically within 100 kilometers
of the mill in the regions of La Brie,
La Beauce, La Champagne and La

Picardie, known as the country’s best
wheat-producing region.
The company said it will soon
launch for its artisan bakers a new
product, the “Baltic,” a Scandinavianinspired black bread.
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For more information, see Page 110.

French milling
industry facts

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World Grain - June 2013

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