Jambon-beurre is still No1 snack

MORE than a billion ham sandwiches were sold last year in France – making up 58% of all 2.19billion sandwiches sold and keeping the classic jambon- beurre No1 in snack sales charts.

Sales of 1.28bn jambon-beurre sandwiches kept the French snack well ahead of the Americans - as burger sales rose 10% in 2014 to 1.07bn – and the Italians as pizza sales also rose 1.2%, to 809million sold.

Costing an average of €2.74, the price has risen just 1.05% while France’s favourite pizza, the Reine, rose 2.9% to €10.54... with people having to work 40 minutes to earn enough for a pizza.

Buyers in Champagne will be fizzing as the Gira Conseil study showed that they have to work 45 min to afford their Reine – especially as just 200km away in Alsace they need just 35min.

France is still, with America, the country that eats the most pizza but one restaurant meal in four in France is a burger – and burger sales rose 10% in 2014.

Bernard Boutboul, head of consultants Gira Conseil , said that buyers were watching the prices of what they were buying but were also wanting quality. The price of the entry-level jambon-beurre was still “reasonable”.

No surprise that Paris is the most expensive place to buy – with an average price of €3.18 – but the cheapest jambon-beurre is to be found in Sète and Dieppe, where it cost €2.36. Buying in a little supermarket or supérette gives the cheapest of all, averaging €1.93.
Photo: Kim CC BY-SA 2.0