REPORT. "An incredible evolution": how to explain the French appetite for chicken, now the most consumed meat

Consumption of chicken, the popular meat, increased by 10% between 2023 and 2024. It has now replaced pork on our plates. But French farmers are far from meeting demand.

In the land of ham and butter, chicken is king. It's the most consumed meat in France, dethroning pork. In 2024, each French person ate 32 kg of poultry, including 25 kg of chicken, according to the statistics department of the Ministry of Agriculture, a figure that's up 10% year-on-year. Franceinfo took a closer look at this phenomenon.

To understand this craze, first visit a restaurant, where four out of ten chickens are consumed. The latest fast-food trend, Chik'Chill, located in the Créteil Soleil shopping center in Val-de-Marne, south of Paris, perfectly embodies this trend.

The recipes for this French-style KFC are by Mohamed Cheikh, winner of the Top Chef show four years ago. He puts his all into this meat, which appeals to all generations and religions. "Unlike pork or beef, everyone eats poultry; it's healthy," assures the chef.

Indian chicken "tikka masala" or "American wings" are also offered in her restaurant. And it works: in two months, 100,000 customers have come to try her chicken burgers, like Jennifer, who is "very chicken" , just like her partner and her children. This mother "eats a lot of chicken" , because "it is not expensive compared to other meats" and " it can be prepared in the form of escalope, aiguillettes, nuggets".

Another restaurant customer, Richard, generally only eats chicken for medical reasons. A nutritionist he consulted after a gout attack explained to him that "it's better to eat chicken than red meat."

At Chik'Chill, the chicken is of French origin, which is far from being the case elsewhere. French production is largely insufficient to meet demand. France imports nearly one in two chickens, whereas in the 2000s, it was an exporter. To understand what happened, head to the famous Rungis market in Val-de-Marne, where 90,000 tons of poultry pass through each year.

"We don't have enough poultry produced in France," explains Gino Catena, president of the poultry and game union at the world's largest fresh produce market. "Since everyone needs to eat," France exports from "Belgium, Poland, those places," he says, assuring that "at Rungis, we don't have" Ukrainian chicken.

With 200,000 tons each year, Ukraine is the second-largest supplier of chicken to the European Union, behind Brazil. French poultry producers denounce the unfair competition from this meat, which is produced according to less stringent health standards. This chicken arrives by boat in the Netherlands, where it becomes Dutch and therefore European after being cut or processed.

The trend is towards chicken sold in pieces, according to Gino Catena, who explains that "in whole poultry, we sell about 15-20% of our volumes, and for the rest, it is sold in cuts and as processed products." "Cordon bleus and nuggets" are experiencing "incredible growth" because they appeal to "all types of customers, especially children."

And this is why France is being left behind. High-end production, that is, "Label Rouge" chickens, or those with protected designations of origin, such as Bresse chicken, cannot meet this demand for processed products. Food manufacturers need standard, entry-level chicken.

France will need 400 more chicken coops within five years, according to estimates from the National Association of Broiler Poultry. Agriculture Minister Annie Genevard says she is aware of this and promises that the issue will be on the table at the food sovereignty conferences, which are scheduled to take place within the next two months.