The Changing Face of the Market: France

I was in France recently and it didn’t take long to notice how quickly the country was changing, in terms of output, buyer’s preference and the need for change.

France has always been a country which has remained pretty much the same. When we think of the produce of France we think of great Wine, great Bread and great Chesses. However, over the last couple of years the French have noticed that wine sales a declining, as countries from all around the world take to the industry. It hasn’t just been because of this though, in the country the young are getting older, and the original wine drinkers are unfortunately dying out, and as the young have been brought up drinking beer, they have continued that into their latter life, consequently meaning that as more people are lost each year, less people are there to pick up where they left off in wine buying terms.

What Does This Mean?

When talking to a few people over in France I gathered an understanding that because of this problem farmers have been asked to take down some of their vines, and if you drive around the countryside you will notice that there are less vines nowadays and much more rape and sunflowers. The farmers agree as they get paid compensation, and as it is harder to sell the produce, it’s a win-win in many ways.

Is the Just Giving In?

One of the main reasons for people buying into other wines, such as Australian or Chilean, is because of the ‘hip’ image they have, and in many ways because it is different from the norm, which would be French wine.

So have the French just given up, accepting that they can’t compete with these other wines. On one side of the argument yes, yes they have. If the French wanted to compete, in my opinion they could easily create a new image for some of the wines which aren’t selling as well, new labels, try and compete with the Australians by having some television adverts. It would cost a lot of money, but without it the French are losing one of there most loved, and biggest industries.

On the other hand, maybe they should be diversifying and not relying on the same old formula. As mentioned at the top, the French are somewhat stuck in their ways and we don’t see that much change. Therefore is this the time where they should really think and try and change what they make, change how they sell and change their ways. If beer is on the rise, increase the production of beer? Run with the market, not away from them.

A Lot Easier Said

Obviously this is all a lot harder to put into reality than say it. There are so many ways to change and try and keep up, or diversify and change to meet people’s new needs. It’s hard to make a decision which way to go, mainly due to the fact we don’t know what the market will be like in the next couple of years, it may change back and make all the work done useless. This is one of the points in a business cycle where we have to plan ahead and try and plan what will happen, which is hard in nearly every aspect.

In the end a lot of business is based on luck. But to make luck come to you, you need to analyse and build upon that analysis.