Lamb is perceived in an excellent manner in France, conjuring up the image of ‘feast day meat’, which is ‘natural’, mixed with a ‘regional flavour’. Historically lamb in France has been regarded as a meat for special occasions and has carried a high price tag. This price tag is less expensive than it used to be, especially with supermarkets and hypermarkets taking between 50 and 60% of the retail market. Lamb meat is now available to all at a (relatively) low price; a meat which is still regarded as ‘special’.

Lamb consumption is increasing in France; in 1988 by an estimated 4%. This is largely due to price, good marketing and very good presentation — in the supermarkets, by top quality high-street butchers and in older traditional country markets. Consumption of lamb has increased by approximately 85 000 t in the last 15 years. French production has been decreasing by about 4% per year over recent years, and France imported 63 500 t in 1984 of which 36 000 came from the United Kingdom (UK). In 1987, 108 200 t were imported, of which 60 000 t came from the UK.

There is a greater market potential for lamb in France than her producers can provide. One reason for this is that there are 190 000 producers with 8.15 million ewes; an average flock size of 42. This compares with the UK which has less than half the number of producers, with double the numbers of breeding sheep, and an average flock size nearly five times the size of French flocks.

From the long-term point of view, not only is a large number of the flocks too small to be viable in competition with UK producers in the European Community but a high proportion of flock owners tend to be elderly. Sheep production is taking place in areas which are difficult to farm and on small units which are difficult to expand, either because of land law restriction or through economic constraints.