The volume of burgers consumed outside the home in France has more than doubled since 2008, according to Bord Bia.

Victoria Larragy of Bord Bia says this trend in burger consumption is showing no signs of letting up, with consumption up 9% in 2013 from the previous year. French consumers eat, on average, 14 burgers per annum.

Larragy outlined that the burger offerings in France vary from lower-priced ranges from the fast food players, through to more premium offerings from a number of independent gourmet burger restaurants such as La Maison Mère and Blend Hamburger.

She outlined that one such fast food player who is active on the burger market is Quick, currently France’s second-largest fast food group behind McDonald’s, with 379 outlets and a turnover in 2013 of €831 million (Neo Restauration, 2014).

Quick, in order to respond to increasing competition in the market following the successful return of Burger King (their Paris Saint Lazare restaurant is the groups second most profitable restaurant worldwide), have introduced a new ‘Burger Bar’ concept. This unique concept will be dedicated to the chains ‘best-sellers’ and is centred on 12 burger-based (chicken or beef) products served only with accompanying fries and soft drink. To keep the ordering process simple, the burger bar menu will have rounded off prices. The chain with their new concept want to be ‘the burger destination’ in France based on a three-pronged approach of ‘fast food, good food and easy food’.

Larragy also outlined another player of interest in the more premium end of the burger market is the recently opened Mythic Burger chain owned by the same parent company as ‘La Boîte à Pizza’.

There are already five Mythic burger counters to be found in La Boîte à Pizza outlets with four Mythic burger outlets planned to open across the country. Their focus is on burgers with an authentic taste using a range of sauces and flavours, including pesto, honey and Reblochon cheese. There is a choice between beef (rare or medium rare), chicken and soya steak for the meat.

Larragy commented that the strong performance and ‘premiumisation’ of the burger offering in foodservice could provide opportunities for Irish suppliers of premium and breed-based meat to France.