Snacks continues to be a thriving sector within France, and saw strong increases in value growth over 2025, although this was very much led by the rising cost of chocolate. By contrast, volume sales are struggling to regain momentum in many categories, and this reflects the still fragile nature of consumer purchasing power. Outside of chocolate confectionery, savoury snacks are seeing the strongest growth boosted by the ever popular apéro concept in France, an early evening socialising ritual among friends and family. Changing consumption patterns are benefiting the snack industry in France, as consumers focus less on longer meals, and are open to more snacking opportunities, with younger consumers central to the development of this trend.
Intentional indulgence remains a key focus for French consumers, and this is strongly reflected within the snack categories, such as chocolate confectionery and ice cream. Successful new products tend to be indulgent and made from quality ingredients. Trusted brands are performing well in this sector such as Ferrero which has successful transitioned into ice cream and biscuits. Within snacks, these indulgent products remain affordable for most consumers who continue to purchase them despite recent price rises, particularly in chocolate confectionery. Most manufacturers using chocolate in their products have raised retail prices. Some smaller artisanal companies have been forced to adjust their ingredients as they have lower bargaining power to negotiate ingredient costs. As a result, there has been a rise in fruit and nut chocolate products as they ultimately use less chocolate and are therefore cheaper to produce.
Snacks in France is dominated by multinationals such as Mondelez International, Ferrero, Nestlé SA, Mars Inc and PepsiCo Inc. Mondelez France SAS is the leading player within snacks followed by Ferrero France SA. Mondelez offers a range of products across the snacks category including savoury snacks which Ferrero is not yet present in. Mondelez is relatively discrete in its ownership of some classic French snack brands such as LU and Cote D’Or with many consumers not realising that these brands are owned by the American company. In the early part of 2025, there was a good deal of consumer backlash surrounding American goods, and with a large number of snack companies from the US, this could affect sales. French consumers are very supportive of French companies and like to buy French made and French brands. However, within snacks a lot of French brand names are used, even though the parent company is from the US.
Large grocery retailers, such as supermarkets and hypermarkets, remain the most popular places to buy snacks in France. Hypermarkets continue to see a decline in share as French consumers increasingly opt for shops in close proximity, as well as retail e-commerce. The grocery chain Casino (which owns Monoprix, Franprix as well as Casino) struggled to see a profit in 2024 and has sold a number of sites which have been picked up by rival chains. Hypermarkets have the widest range of snack products and are often used as testing grounds for new products in France. Nonetheless, their size continues to work against them as consumers find it time consuming to shop in hypermarkets and prefer a more intimate size of shop as well as building relationships with shop staff. Packaged snacks are facing competition from all sorts of food service offerings, particularly with the growth of large and inventive bakery chains. These stores, such as Ange and Marie Blachere, are often positioned next to a supermarket or hypermarket, enabling consumers to pop in briefly to get a fresh snack rather than negotiating the aisles of a much larger store.
Snacks is predicted to continue growing well over the forecast period as French consumers continue to embrace these products which provide an instant pleasure hit as well as offering convenience. Busy lifestyles are driving snack consumption occasions across all generations, although Gen Z and Millennials are leading the change within France as a whole. Affordability will be key to new product development, and pack sizes will continue to diversify thereby offering sharing and individual portions.
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