Point Vert stores are promoting home-made cooking

As we enter 2023, Euralis’s Point Vert stores are encouraging customers to produce their own preserves, particularly pork with the 1st edition of the “Foire au Porc” (Pork Fair), taking place from 12 to 22 January. To help them, Point Vert stores are offering customers a wider range of products to prepare, cook, sterilise and can their preserves, providing the opportunity to rediscover the pleasure of “home-made” recipes and save money. Consumer trends in keeping with the times

 

In response to inflation (+9.35% in 2022 – Forecast by Nielsen PGC-FLS) and various crises (COVID-19, the war in Ukraine, energy, climate, etc.), French consumers are changing their food habits. They are choosing simple recipes and avoiding waste. In addition, they are looking for practical, easy-to-cook and easy-to-store products, and they want to know what’s inside. In this context, the latest study by Kantar for Uppia (November 2022) confirms consumer demand for home-made products: 44% of people questioned claimed to favour home-made products and preserves are making a comeback in France. 41% prefer to consume meals they have cooked themselves rather than buying processed products. Finally, 64% said they have increased their consumption of French products since the start of the pandemic while 40% are trying to eat more local products to support small independent retailers. These consumer trends are in line with the work undertaken in short circuits by our Table des Producteurs aisles, which list the products of some 500 producers in our local Point Vert stores.

 

The benefits of preserves: practical, affordable and eco-friendly

Consumers are realising that making their own preserves has many benefits, and a growing number of them are starting to cook their own home-made products. Moreover, according to the latest study by Kantar, 31% of French people would like to be completely self-sufficient when it comes to making their own everyday products – food and otherwise. 

Cooking their own food preserves helps consumers prepare dishes in advance and thus save time. This also helps to save money: compared to frozen foods, storing them does not require electricity and unprocessed products are generally less expensive. Preserves make it possible to eat seasonal produce all year round, not forgetting the health benefits (sterilising does not require preservatives), and to cook foods according to personal tastes and needs, for example, by adjusting the seasoning and adapting formats (from individual containers to family-sized jars). Preserves are also sustainable since the jars are re-usable. Finally, consumers have the added benefit of knowing where their food comes from.

 

Point Vert products in line with consumer trends

Product ranges in Euralis’s Point Vert stores have been expanded to adapt to consumer demand. “In food aisles, you can find everything you need to make your own preserves” Johan Becquet, Head of Marketing at Euralis Distribution, explains. “Firstly, we sell unprocessed products from the ‘Table des Producteurs’ brand, which are perfect for using in preserves. Always sourced locally, these food products are healthy and delicious: seasonal fruit and vegetables, and for the first time this year, pork specially cut and packaged for preserves (loins, minced meat for pâté, pork chops, pork ribs, giblets, etc.). What’s more, we offer consumers the equipment necessary to make their own preserves at affordable prices, including jars, sealing rings, water-bath canners, portable burners, etc., not forgetting a crimping service should they opt for metal cans.” This year, in response to rising gas prices, for every gas cylinder purchased, a 10-euro voucher will be issued to spend in-store (when you spend fifty euros or more). 

Lastly, the store teams are always available to answer customers’ questions and offer advice on issues such as sterilising, canning, and storing jars. Canning is not a difficult process in itself: you simply need to ensure that the jars are not chipped and that the seals are new.