Burger boost for sandwich market

France is famous for its fine food but last year it was sales of burgers that hit an all-time high.

Last year the French munched their way through 970 million burgers - almost half of all sandwiches sold in the country.

The fast food has enjoyed a popularity boom in recent years, with figures going from one burger to every nine sandwiches sold in 2000, to almost one in two in 2013, leaving the overall French sandwich market in robust health, boasting a turnover of more than €7bn for about two billion sandwiches sold.

The industry’s top competitors in France, McDonald’s (the world’s biggest burger chain) and Quick, sold 655 million burgers between them, while restaurants sold 247 million, corporate catering was behind with 47 million sales and hotels 21 million. France is McDonalds' largest market in terms of sales after the USA, which has, however been partly put down to the fact that French people tend to sit down for full meals including a dessert.

Bernard Boutboul, managing director of marketing company Gira Conseil which carried out the study, said the numbers were « impressive », and « there has been a 40% increase in sales in two years ».

He said that « 75% of traditional French restaurants offer at least one hamburger on their menu », prompting the surge as diners opted for burgers instead of traditional dishes such as steak or fish.

Maria Bertoch, an expert from the NPD Group’s Europe Foodservice division said the restaurant industry had seen a 9% rise in sales of burgers during 2013.