Picard in France
(From the 地図に使えるフリー素材.jp)
Frozen Foods in France
The word "frozen food" may not come up in the image you have of France. However, France is actually one of the world's leading frozen food countries.
In France, there is a supermarket specializing in frozen foods called "Picard" that was established 50 years ago. It has also made its way to Japan as an expensive frozen food supermarket. Picard has become very popular both in Japan and France because of the taste and appearance of its frozen foods, as well as its environmentally friendly products.
Let's take a look at what kind of company Piccard is! I will introduce the appeal of Piccard with reference to what I interviewed at the Piccard Daikanyama store.
The Secrets of Picard's Popularity
Can enjoy French cuisine at home
One of the reasons for its popularity is that you can enjoy authentic French cuisine, party food, and even French home cooking without going out. One of the main attractions is that you can easily enjoy dishes that would take a lot of time to prepare by yourself by simply defrosting or heating them up. In addition, the croissants, which are most popular in Picard, are made from flour, sugar, eggs, and other ingredients all produced in France.
Nowadays, bread is also frozen. But since bread is the staple food in other countries, it is the same as when rice is frozen in Japan.
Croissants are much more popular than the second-place product. The difference is a whopping 95 votes, almost 100 votes!
Because croissants are so popular, the sales floor is much larger than other products.
This is a product that is also highly recommended by the store staff.
Crispy croissants are offered to eat at eat-in.
*Only a few of the shops offer a place to eat.
Other than croissants, they sell a variety of frozen food items that are not available in Japan.
Picard Also Sell Supplies
In Picard, not only the dishes are popular, but also the ingredients. They sell agricultural products such as white beans and asparagus, as well as seafood such as lobster and salmon fillets and even raw foie gras! The advantage of frozen ingredients is that they may be stored for an extended period of time without losing nutritional value, and they do not require any pre-treatment.
Using Environmentally Friendly BIO Foods
BIO (bio) foods are what we call organic foods in Japan, and are foods that are free of any pesticides or chemical fertilizers. They are sold with the "Euro Leaf" mark, a common European certification, or the "AB (Agriculture Biologique)" mark, independent certification of the French Ministry of Agriculture and Food. Compared to Japan's organic food market, which is said to be worth about 185 billion yen, according to a survey compiled by the Ministry of Agriculture Forestry and Fisheries as of 2018, France's biotech market is far larger, worth 9.7 billion euros (about 1,164 billion yen) as of 2018.
According to a survey conducted by Agence BIO, a French public interest organization, 88% of French people have purchased biotech products in the past, and 71% purchase biotech products at least once a month for the their health, their families, and the global environment. In recent years, young people have become more interested in biotech foods. It is thought that the secret to the popularity of these products is that they are sold with consideration for health and the environment.
Tasting
We ate at Picard and waited for our food at the table.
The food was good. We drank orange juice made with three whole oranges.
Picard, a frozen food specialty store, has created a way for customers to taste French cuisine in the comfort of home. In addition, they sell ingredients for everyday cooking and employ bio-foods that are good for people's health and the environment.