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Is price of baguettes and other bread fixed by the French government?
The cost of the famous French bread has provoked controversy over the years
Published
Modified
Contrary to some popular belief the price of a baguette is not fixed in France - although it used to be.
Baguette prices (or rather related flour prices) were once regulated but this stopped on January 1, 1987, when the government brought in a change allowing bakeries to set their price freely so as to achieve general price liberalisation and see competition between businesses.
Over the years this has led to various price wars between supermarkets vying to offer the cheapest version of the famous French bread.
A few years ago Lidl and Leclerc engaged in a price war that saw the cost of a baguette in the two supermarket chains drop to 29 cents.
Independent bakeries have frequently complained about these practices, calling it unfair competition that puts local bakeries at risk of dying out.
Indeed, a survey from last year by the consumer rights website Que Choisir noted that the gap between large retailers and bakeries was widening, with the price of a baguette falling by five cents in supermarkets between 2024 and 2025, while it has increased at independent bakeries.
According to Que Choisir, the supermarkets Aldi and Lidl were pricing baguettes at 35 cents on average in 2025.
By contrast independent bakeries price their baguettes on average at nearly double the cost in supermarkets, with the supermarket baguettes slightly larger in weight.
The same survey found that the classic baguette weighs 240g on average and costs €1.09 in bakeries, a two-cent increase on 2024. In supermarkets it weighed 250g and cost 55 cents, five cents less than in 2024.
Consider how this compares historically. In 1960 a baguette cost 35 centimes of a franc (roughly equivalent to five cents today), 1.67 franc in 1980 (€0.25) and 3.14 franc in 1990 (€0.48).
No rules for weight or height
As well as price, there is no law setting standards for the weight or height either of baguettes or other breads which leads to variations around the country.
For example, a baguette in the Paris region will weigh around 250g, while a flûte - a thinner baguette - weighs 200g. In the department of Seine-Maritime, meanwhile, it is the opposite way round, according to the Confédération nationale de la boulangerie-pâtisserie française, France’s boulangeries and patisseries confederation.
By contrast, several articles from a 1978 law have regulated the specificities surrounding labeling products with their true weight.
