The French “Savoir-faire charcutier”

The French “Savoir-faire charcutier”
An active federation serving French companies.
Founded in 1924, the FICT is an industry association that represents deli
meat producers, delicatessens and meat processing companies. It brings
together 250 companies of all sizes throughout France working in this sector.
Together, they carry out initiatives related to economic, legal, social,
technical and regulatory affairs, while at the same time addressing the
specific needs of each activity.
France’s long tradition of quality deli meats.
There are more than 400 meat products in France, and each region has
its own unique specialities, from traditional recipes to modern innovations,
that are festive, high quality and easy to serve. This varied range of
products can be broken down into broad families of recipes and specialties.
Duck rillettes
These highly modern, ready-to-eat products can be found in on
supermarket shelves, in deli sections by the kilo, and in appertized cans.
Some of them are labelled with special indications or official seals of quality.
French dry cured ham
Cooked hams
Dry hams
Sausages and dry sausages
Other cured meats
Cooked or cooking sausages
Pâtés
Chitterlings and puddings
Meat-filled pastries
Other deli meats
Mixed salads
Ready-made dishes
Canned meats
13
10 %
8%
8%
63 %
Breakdown of major product families by % of production
11 %
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The French «Charcutiers-Traiteurs» Federation
High-quality products.
The Code of Best Practices in French Deli Meat
Production.
The Code of Best Practices in Deli Meat Production (called the Code des
Usages in French) is a document of more than 600 pages specifying the best
practices for manufacturing deli meat products and the main characteristics
these products must have in order to meet legal requirements for sale.
The Code of Best Practices in Deli Meat Production is the fruit of a broadbased consensus between artisans, industrial manufacturers and the IFIP
(a technical institute). It is approved by the French Administration, via the
Directorate-General for Consumption, Competition and Repression of Fraud.
Thus, this document helps to protect consumers and ensure fair industry
practices.
A few signs indicating the quality
and origin of French deli
meat products.
The Label Rouge guarantees that a product of is the finest
quality. The product must pass strict quality inspections and
taste tests at every step of the production process.
→ A wide variety of French deli meat products (cooked ham,
dry ham, dry sausage, cooked or cooking sausage, pâté and
others) bear this label.
For each type of deli meat product, the Code of Best Practices:
-
indicates the required ingredients and the other ingredients that can
be used (raw materials, additives, decorations and coatings).
The Code is based on the “positive list” approach, meaning that anything
not explicitly authorised is to be considered as forbidden.
- describes the main production steps as well as the main characteristics
that the product must have (physical, sensory, chemical and
microbiological criteria).
-
specifies the ways in which each specific product differs from other
similar products (special designations). As well, the product’s label may
also feature special indications whose use is also governed by the Code
of Best Practices.
French logo
European logo
The Organic Farming (Agriculture Biologique or AB) label
guarantees quality related to production practices that are
environmentally-friendly and respect the well-being of the
animals used.
→ A wide variety of French deli meat products (cooked ham,
dry sausage, lard, link sausages and others) bear this label.
PGI - Protected Geographical Indications, (Indications
Géographiques Protégées or IGP in French), a European protection
system, specify that there must be a link with the specific region
at least during the food’s production, processing or manufacturing
phases. The PGI describes specific local production methods,
and can only be obtained by companies that already have a
Certificate of Compliance or a Label Rouge designation.
→ Bayonne Ham, Morteau Sausage, Jésus de Morteau
Sausage, Rethel White Pudding and Ardennes Ham
Specific indications
- Supérieur(es) (“Finest Quality”)
A product of the finest quality containing nobler ingredients and fewer additives
(only curing ingredients are allowed) than standard products.
- Traditionnel(les) (“Traditional Quality”)
This indication may be used only by finest quality products that contain no
colouring agents and a strictly limited number of additives.
- A l’ancienne (“Old-Style”)
Only products that meet the specifications for traditional products, and whose
raw materials and ingredients have not been frozen, can bear this indication.
The pleasures of great taste
Cooked smooth cocktail sausages
When eaten in reasonable quantities, these various deli meats are an
important part of our balanced diet, as they have a number of health
benefits:
- A wide variety of products for a delicious, festive, balanced diet.
- All of the essential amino acids, making these products high in beneficial
animal proteins.
- High-quality fats: contrary to popular belief, deli meats contain mostly
unsaturated fats (61%).
- Low in cholesterol.
- High in vitamins and minerals.
Nutrition and research
Nutrition and the relationship between food and health have become hot
topics in the news. Manufacturers are continuing to innovate and make their
deli meat products more flavourful, easier to serve and more nutritious.
For more than 20 years, deli meats companies have taken both individual
and joint initiatives to promote balanced diets and offer safe, healthy products
thanks to high levels of investment on new industrial processes and product
research.
Collectively, the companies have promised to improve their products by
making them lower in salt and in fat.
Deli meats companies are also particularly attentive to new research projects,
namely those in major fields such as nutrition and health, health risks, ease of
use and taste.
Dynamic companies
A few key figures :
- The French deli meats, delicatessen and meat processing industry
is the European Union’s third-largest meat processing industry in terms
of value, behind Germany and Italy.
- There are 340 companies, 63% of which have € 10 million in sales or more.
- Overall sales of € 6.6 billion.
- 1.4 million tonnes of products manufactured, including 66% available
on self-service supermarket shelves.
- More than 37,000 jobs.
- Exports of pork deli meat products, cured meat products and canned
meat products reach 83,000 tonnes.
There are deli meat companies of all sizes everywhere in France.
They are either highly specialized in a few traditional products or, especially
for the larger companies, more diversified, with products ranging from standard
deli meats to fully-prepared deli meals, with products made from several types
of meat (pork, poultry, eggs, goose, duck and more) using the latest
technological advances.
French countryside pâté
Main regions of production
French diced belly
Selling expertise
11 %
10 %
Export
Super/hypermarkets
Specialty shops
HORECA
Intermediary food products and others
8%
63 %
8%
French manufacturers are active in all channels:
They manufacture under their own brand names or under store brands.
Innovative, high-performance firms
French cooked ham
Deli and prepared meats companies have acquired the latest technological
innovations in order to rationalise the production and distribution of their
products. All of the companies are EEC-certified and many have production
facilities certified to various standards (ISO / BRC / IFS).
During the last decade, the French «charcutiers» have created more than 100
new recipes per year offering new tastes and other new benefits to consumers.
Responsible companies
Each step in the manufacturing of French deli meat products, from the
slaughterhouse to distribution, is subject to official inspections, and a strict
legislative framework lays down the health and safety regulations to be
complied with. To meet these requirements, industry firms have
implemented a large number of measures in recent years, including:
Tripe
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The industrial deli meat industry’s Guide to Best Hygiene Practices
provides means and methods for meeting safety targets. It brings together
practical information in specific fact sheets for each product family and
other information for manufacturers that wish to implement food safety
management measures (compliant with the NF EN ISO 22000 standard)
that can be monitored in order to help to meet regulatory requirements.
-
The HACCP (Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point) process trains
staff on hygiene, approval of use-by dates (UBDs), and writing and
implementing a guide to Best Hygiene Practices in order to comply with
the Code of Best Practices in Deli Meat Production. Each product is
identified by a batch number, ensuring that all products are traceable
and that information on their history is documented.
Industry firms are making every possible effort to fully trace and document
the origin of the ingredients and other products used in making deli meat
products. Since 1 January 2005, the traceability requirement has enabled
the tracking of product circulation in order to guarantee both the safety
and origin of the ingredients and raw materials at every step in the
manufacturing process.
In the event of an emergency, public authorities can send out an alert in
order to track down the suspect products, remove them from store shelves
and inform consumers.
Consumer information
FICT member companies are kept abreast of regulatory changes,
regulatory trends and the means of complying with new regulations.
Sustainable development and the environment
French deli and prepared meats companies play an active role in working
groups within the FICT in order to develop tools to help implement
strategies for various facets of sustainable development (industrial,
economic, societal and environmental aspects).
High competences and professional training
The FICT is implementing a multi-year plan to increase employment, train
employees and improve working conditions. Financial aid for training programs
to increase sales and exports can be obtained from Agefaforia (the organisation
in charge of managing funds for training food and beverage industry staff).
French pinned smoked sausage
The French Federation of Industriel Deli Meat Producers,
Delicatessens and Meat Processors promotes the trade,
its know-how and its products.
FICT web site: www.fict.fr
The Deli Meats and Products Information Centre:
www.infocharcuteries.fr
With the participation of:
Printed on paper made from sustainably-farmed trees. Produced by Panoply – 10/2010
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