EATING BETTER IN 2025: QUALITY OVER QUANTITY
Long confined to the sports sector with protein-enriched products, the quest for nutritionally beneficial foods is evolving towards a more global dimension of well-being through food.
Public health messages are raising awareness among French consumers about the link between their diet, health, and well-being. Gradually, they are returning to rational eating habits, favoring simpler foods that are rich in nutrients, minerals, and vitamins and minimally processed, the basis of a balanced diet.
With several million monthly users, the French Yuka app, which decodes food and cosmetic product labels, has greatly contributed to a different, more conscious view of the composition of the products we consume on a daily basis. Naturalness is becoming the Holy Grail: we are seeking out preservatives, additives, and other artificial colorings so we can avoid them. As a result, meals and snacks are becoming allies in consuming less but better, with a focus on the intrinsic quality of products. In line with this trend, meat consumption seems to be making a comeback in 2025. But not just any old way! Producers must prove their credentials in terms of ethics, traceability, and sustainability in order to benefit from this growing interest in high-quality, even premium cuts, consumed more occasionally. This is a good point for artisans who can stand out from large retailers, particularly thanks to a specialist positioning that guarantees the quality of the products offered to their customers.
The figure
61% of French people believe that a balanced diet and product quality are essential for good nutrition.
Good advice
Manufacturers: Take an educational approach to highlight the additional benefits of your products and explain their value and impact on health and the environment.
Distributors: Refer to quality labels, which help to highlight the efforts of artisans, to build an offering that is consistent with your customers' expectations.
Examples of products from brands exhibiting at Gourmet Selection
Atelier d'Angresse
Located in the south-west of France, Atelier d'Angresse is an artisanal smokehouse that uses “simple and good” ingredients. The smoked salmon is made from the best Scottish farms and Guérande salt. Cured with beech wood using a unique process, each fish is then sliced by hand. This expertise and the care taken in selecting products can also be found throughout the brand's range, such as the tarama, made with smoked wild cod roe, bread, rapeseed oil, milk, and lemon only, to restore the traditional recipe, which is too often mistreated by the food industry, to its former glory.
Happy Hours in Biovallée
Audrey made a simple observation: snack foods for aperitifs are often too sweet, too salty, too fatty, or full of additives. She developed a technique for toasting without additives or added fat. Very quickly, her recipes spread beyond her circle of friends and became an entrepreneurial adventure: Happy Hours en Biovallée.
The brand combines quality and indulgence, thanks to healthy, 100% homemade snacks with limited salt and sugar content and no excessive packaging. Made in France and certified organic, the range is expanding to cater for all occasions: salad mixes, energy balls, spreads, vegan sweets, and more.
Les Délices de Saint Orens
Founded in 2006, Les Délices de Saint Orens raise and process their own ducks from start to finish on their farm, a typical farm located in Cauna in the Landes region. The ducks are fed corn from their own harvests; production is deliberately limited to allow the ducks to roam freely on grass, while the rearing and force-feeding periods are extended to achieve perfect maturity. These obvious choices are what make them unique, delivering an authentic taste with a flavor of excellence.
The ducks are fed corn from their own harvests; production is deliberately limited to allow free-range grazing, while rearing and force-feeding periods are extended to achieve perfect maturity. These obvious factors become their unique selling point, delivering an authentic taste with a hint of excellence.