UBIFRANCE in Ireland is delighted to invite you to the 1 st edition of the French Wines Portfolio Tasting. The event will take place on the 6th June 2013. What is the French Wines Portfolio? 1. A catalogue Introducing to the trade around 10 wineries and their respective products, 2. A tasting Tasting of the wines presented in the catalogue in the absence of the representatives of the wineries. The event will take place in UBIFRANCE offices on Harcourt Street, Dublin 2.

The French association “entreprise et prevention“, campaigning against excessive alcohol consumption, has released its annual survey on alcohol consumption in France. Sales in volume of alcoholic beverages have decreased but the value has increased. A large majority of French people have become occasional consumers. Half of them consume less than one glass per week. Outside of home, 45% consume alcoholic beverages, mainly during mealtime. According to an IFOP survey, nowadays daily consumption affects one French person out of ten. The French are mainly weekly (39%) or monthly (24%) consumers. 11% of them drink less often (every two or three months) and 15% of them don’t drink at all. According to a survey from Kantar, the average level of volume bought by household has fallen by 6.5 liters since 2007 to 74.2 liters in 2012. At the same time, expenditures per year and per household for alcohol drinks (wines, spirits and beers) have increased by 21 euros to 322.5 EUR in 2012. Source : http://www.lsa-conso.fr/les-francais-boivent-moins-de-boissons-alcoolisees-tout-en-depensant-plus,141351

Today, UBIFRANCE in Ireland invites you to discover a region of France. For this first Régional focus , we are going to discover Normandy, known for its verdant landscapes, its history, the Mont Saint-Michel and its Camembert. OVERVIEW: Normandy is one of the largest French agribusiness regions. With 35,000 workers (15% of employment of the region), agribusiness is the largest employer in Normandy producing cow milk, fresh cream, butter, fresh cheeses and soft cheeses, cider, flaxseed (67% of national production). It is also a region of horse breeding, tea and coffee brewing and much more… The agribusiness sector weighs 7.5 billion EUR with 75% coming from dairy and meat products. Normandy hosts many food companies (741 in total) on its territory including major ones such as Nestlé, Ferrero, Danone, Bel, Isigny Ste Mère or Bigard. These companies export about 20% of their turnover all over the world. In 2011, Normandy exported 3.3 billion of food products. CULINARY SPECIALTIES: Dairy products: Dairy products are the basis of Norman cuisine. Normandy is internationally famous for its cheeses like Livarot , “ Pont l’Evêque ”, “ Le Pavé d’Auge ”, the heart shaped "Neufchatel" and the famous “camembert”. Each year, approximately 17 million of Camemberts are produced in Normandy and 3.5% is exported around the world. Normandy is the 1st French region producing cheese from cow’s milk (a quarter of national production), the 1st region for fresh cheese (43% of national production) and soft cheeses (one third of the national production). Normandy is also the first producer of butter (33% of national production) and whey powder (16% of national production). Seafood: With its 640 km of coastline, oysters, mussels, prawns and St-Jacques are the flagship products of Norman meals. The French are the biggest consumers of fresh oysters in the world. Normandy is the 1st region producing mussels in France (18 000 tons in the 2010). Drinks: Normandy is also a country of apples . You can find Norman Cider, Calvados (apple Brandy), Embuscade (cocktail made with brandy, beer and white wine), Pommeau (mixing apple juice and Calvados), Poiré (pear cider) and apple juice. In 2011, Normandy has produced 18 000 hl of Calvados of which more than 50% is exported around the world. France is the first producer of cider in the world and Normandy produces each year between 300 000 and 350 000 tons of apples for cider. With less than 2 liters per year and per capita, cider consumption in France is far behind wine, beer, soft drinks and water yet represents more than 120M EUR. And why not enjoying the local gastronomy yourself? If you’re coming to Normandy, do not hesitate to try the “andouille de Vire”, the “Teurgoule” (caramelized creamy rice pudding flavored with cinnamon), the” tripes de Caen” (tripe prepared in a vegetable broth), milk jam, “l’omelette de la mère Poulard” (famous omelette handmade in Mont-Saint-Michel), the “tarte Tatin” (delicious caramelized apple tart) and rabbit cooking with cider. So many wonders to discover! For further information about Normandy, please click here: http://www.normandie-tourisme.fr/normandy-tourism-109-2.html

Bordeaux wines: 2012 was a success for Bordeaux wines abroad. About 5.55 million hl were produced last year (equivalent to 740 million bottles)and 42% were exported (2.36 million hl) which represents a 17% increase in one year. The French are the largest consumers of Bordeaux wine, but their consumption is slowly decreasing. Conversely, foreigners increased their consumption and appreciate the “Grands crus”. Consequently, export has gathered €2.28 bn in revenues (up 16%) on total sales amounted to €4.3 bn (up 10%). The United Kingdom is the first client of France with €420 million exported, a record increase of 42% in 2011, equivalent to a volume of almost 223,000 hl. According to the interprofessional Council of Bordeaux wine (CIVB), 23 bottles of Bordeaux are sold in the world every second. Wines from the Rhone Valley : Exports of wines from the Rhone Valley also registered strong growth with an increase of 5.5% in volume in 2012. In value, exports progressed by 10%, according to figures from the Rhone Wine Board Inter-Rhône . Rosé wine : France is the leading consumer of rosé wine in the world with 11.8 liters per capita according to a study from Agrex Consulting . Almost 28% of wine consumption in France is now rosé, twice as more than 20 years ago. Eventually, rosé wines could represent 35-40% of the national wine consumption. Exportations are skyrocketing and rosé wines now accounts for 9.5% of the total wines market in the world. France has provided more than a quarter of global production last year (6.5 million hl) and exportations grew by 30% in ten years. Consumption in the United States and Britain has increased last year by 20%, 6 times more than ten years ago. The latest trends last summer was a mixture of rosé and grapefruit juice. Cabernet d’Anjou also saw its sales grow strongly. In the first nine months of 2012, 11.5 million liters of wine were sold in hyper or supermarkets, compared to 3 million in 2011, an increase of 250% in one year. Sources : http://www.lesechos.fr/entreprises-secteurs/grande-consommation/actu/reuters-00507917-les-vins-de-bordeaux-poursuivent-leur-progression-a-l-export-550496.php http://www.lesechos.fr/entreprises-secteurs/grande-consommation/actu/0202632621697-les-vins-roses-seduisent-de-plus-en-plus-de-consommateurs-545729.php http://www.lesechos.fr/entreprises-secteurs/grande-consommation/actu/0202638469704-les-vins-de-la-vallee-du-rhone-s-exportent-plus-546402.php http://www.lesechos.fr/economie-politique/regions/centre/0202632514901-le-rose-pamp-booste-les-ventes-des-vins-de-loire-545795.php

From the 24 to the 28 th of February, 250 000 people from 123 countries converged on Paris to see Europe’s biggest farm machinery show, the SIMA. This year was the 75 th anniversary of this event. The SIMA promotes agriculture all over the world, based on principles of sustainability and technological performance, as well as providing professionals with support and information. This is one of the only trade shows in the world to cover both agricultural equipment and livestock breeding. More than 1350 companies, coming from 40 different countries, showed their products over 62 acres. There were lots of new machine introductions and all of the major tractor brands had something new to offer. This was encouraged by a 12% increase in new tractor sales in France in 2012: 42 712 new tractors were sold, making it the most important tractor market in Europe. Sales of two-wheel drive tractors recorded the biggest increase. John Deere is being reported as the tractor market leader, followed by New Holland and Massey Ferguson. Claas is considered as the combine harvester market leader. Sales of telescopic handlers on farms also increased sharply with over 3600 units sold in 2012 (+33% vs 2011). French dairy farmers were seduced by robot milking technology, with a trebling of the numbers of farms using this milking system since 2007, to over 2800 farmers last year.   At the SIMA, there were also a number of companies specialising in material for precision farming, which is a growing sector. Despite the abundance of GPS guidance type technology for farm machines and tractors, less than 5% of French farmers are using this technology. These systems are improving in terms of operator ease of use, and the iPad is being incorporated in the machine control. At a time when France is breaking unemployment records, there are over 5000 permanent jobs in the farm equipment sector that have not found takers.

The French cheese maker Bongrain recorded a 45% growth of its net profit to 63.6M EUR in 2012. The group said its net sales rose of 2.6% to 4.08Bn EUR and Bongrain welcomed “the good performance of its major cheese brands”. Yet, the company noticed “a slowdown in the second half of 2012 compared to the trend in the first six months of last year”. These positive financial results are announced while Bongrain and Terra Lacta are under the process of merging. With its 870M liters of cow’s milk and about 130M liters of goat milk collected per year, Terra Lacta is the first collector of goat milk in France. The two groups are hoping to close the deal by the end of March. France exported 6.4Bn EUR of dairy products in 2011 including 2.8Bn EUR worth of cheese (+5.1% in comparison to 2010). Every year, France exports 42.5% of his milk production or 10.2Bn liters and in Ireland, 10M EUR of French cheeses are sold per annum. Source : http://www.usinenouvelle.com/article/lait-bongrain-et-terra-lacta-devraient-fusionner-d-ici-fin-mars.N191105 http://www.lsa-conso.fr/bongrain-voit-son-benefice-progresser-mais-reste-prudente-pour-2013,139411

Since large French supermarket chains commit to sell "100% French beef" in their ready meals after the horse meat scandal, another labeling fraud has been discovered in United States, in the seafood industry this time. According to the NGO Oceana , one third of the fish sold in the United States do not correspond to what is advertised on the packaging. Sushi restaurants are the worst performers with frauds in 74% of cases, then comes regular restaurants (38%) and grocery stores (18%). Another question is raised about traceability in the food industry and therefore, its safety. After the horsemeat scandal, consumption has increased paradoxically by 15% in France’s horsemeat butchers. Today it represents only 0.3% of meat consumption in France. The attractiveness of this product has fallen sharply since the early 1980s, from 85,000 tons to less than 20,000 consumed in 2012. According to figures from FranceAgrimer , about 60% of horsemeat consumed in France is nowadays imported. The French President, François Hollande said on Sunday he was trying to convince its European partners for a mandatory labeling mentioning the origin of the meat used in the composition of foods.