- Since the start of confinement, the French have massively gone into cooking, and in particular baking, causing an explosion in flour sales.
- Professionals in the sector assure that France does not lack common wheat or mills to supply the necessary flour.
- But the delays in supplying sachets lead to delays in restocking in supermarkets.
Since the start of the confinement linked to the coronavirus epidemic, many French people have put their hands in the dough to concoct homemade cakes and breads. As a direct result, sales of flour got carried away in the first week, with an increase of 229% compared to the same period in 2019, according to the firm Nielsen.
And the following weeks remained on unusually high standards, with + 159%, + 131%, then +150%. The shelves are therefore empty, causing fear of a shortage for many consumers. But is this fear justified? 20 Minutes takes stock.
Production that does not slow down
With an average of 37 million tonnes of common wheat produced each year, France is the leading producer in this area of the European Union. The national establishment of agricultural and marine products, FranceAgrimer, forecasts that this figure should be maintained for the year 2020. According to figures from Passionscereales.fr, 5 million of these tonnes of soft wheat are transformed into flour , by more than 400 French millers. In addition to this production, 297,504 tonnes of wheat are imported, mainly from Germany. In total, in 2018, French mills produced 4.05 million tonnes of flour.
To cope with the increase in demand over the past few weeks, the millers have organized themselves. The National Association of French Milling (ANMF), which represents 94% of professionals in the sector, specifies that most companies have strengthened their teams to increase production capacities, sometimes with work 7 days a week.
Same story with Les grands moulins de Paris. The company, which is notably behind the Francine brand, indicates that it runs its mills in Reims, Paris-Gennevilliers and Marseille 6 days a week. It has also widened the opening hours of production lines by 20%.
No risk of shortage
Aurore Bescond, deputy secretary general of the National Association of French Milling, wants to be reassuring about a possible risk of shortage: “The French silos are full, and they contain enough grains to satisfy all customers. And for good reason, in normal times, the 1 kg sachet sold on the market represents less than 5% of the uses of flour. "Most of the production is intended for bakeries, the food industry, restaurants", explains Aurore Bescond.
With the decline in activity of the latter (the National Confederation of Bakers announces a loss of turnover of 50%), the quantity of flour available therefore remains significant. The demand for supermarkets is offset by the drop in commercial and industrial demand. Lionel Chevrier, Managing Director of Moulins Advens, confirms this: “We are on the bridge, our production capacity is 100%. "
Packaging, a grain of sand in the chain
But if there is no shortage of flour, why is it so difficult to get it on the shelves? The main problem facing the sector actually lies in packaging. “Our orders have increased by 300%. We reorganized, but we are not used to making as many bags for individuals, it takes longer to produce, ”explains Anthony Roy, director of Le Petit Minotier. Like this company, many provide in normal times much larger packaging to manufacturers, of the order of 10 or 20 kg. However, 500 g or 1 kg sachets require a specific bagging line. Same limitation for Les Moulins Advens: “We lack production lines for this format. Producing 1 kg sachets is longer and more restrictive than large packages. "
In addition to these bagging lines, the bags are running out. Audrey Bescond, of the ANMF, explains: “We are observing tensions on the times of replenishment from the suppliers of sachets. According to the ANMF, a large part of the sachets of flour is imported from Germany. These suppliers are said to have "withdrawn" in favor of the German market. Lionel Chevrier, from Moulins Advens, regrets this lack of autonomy vis-à-vis our neighbors: "Today, one in two bags comes from Germany". And to clarify: “There is no break, but the delivery times are much longer. "
As for Anthony Roy, from Le Petit Minotier, he says he finds it less difficult than others to get bags. But he is faced with the closure, since the beginning of containment, of the printing house which usually labels its packaging: “We are obliged to do it ourselves with the printers which are used to issue invoices and delivery notes. "
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