French people losing appetite for baguettes

Millers in France concerned about country's waning bread consumption

Demand is dwindling for the legendary French stick (Getty Images/ iStockphoto)

People in France are shunning baguettes in favour of healthier, cheaper options, a millers association has said.

The National Association of French Millers (ANMF) say bread consumption is on the decline, with French people eating 120 grams of bread per day in 2015 – nine grams less than in the previous year.

Overall, people in France are eating 30 grams less bread every day compared to 2003 and three times less than in 1950.

ANMF are concerned about the effects this trend will have on their trade, and suggested three reasons why it is happening, Le Figaro reported.

Firstly, the association cited changing diets, in particular those low in carbohydrates or which do not allow gluten, as a factor in the reduction of bread consumption.

This could explain why the difference in consumption between genders is so big. Nowadays, men eat an approximate average of 140 grams of bread daily, whereas women eat 80 to 90 grams.

The second reason, they say, is lifestyle changes in the country, with people dedicating less time to breakfast when bread would traditionally be eaten with butter and jam.

Finally, the rising cost of bread is considered to be a factor, with the price of a French stick increasing by nearly 25 per cent in the last 10 years, now costing around 88 cents.

Lionel Deloingce, President of the ANMF, said millers in France also had other concerns, such as increasing flour imports, particularly from German.

“We are witnessing an intra-European unfair competition,” he told Le Figaro.