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Sales of bulk products, neglected since the Covid-19 pandemic, are picking up. Brands are cautious in their investments. However, equipment manufacturers are coming out with innovations, because the law stipulating that 20% of surface areas be occupied by bulk goods is planned for 2030. By Jean-Bernard Gallois
After a promising start with the emergence of hundreds of grocery stores in 2017, the sale of dry products in bulk came to a sudden halt with Covid-19. “We went from 240 bulk grocery stores in 2018 to 921 three years later, comments Célia Rennesson, co-founder and general director of Réseau Vrac et Réemploi. In 2022, the first closures took place. We did not have time to massively convert consumers to bulk, but in this momentum, nearly 20% of customers became regulars.” The movement was even more brutal for the GSA where bulk became one section among many others, with a consumer left alone “even though it is a purchasing method that needs to be supported”, she continues.
A declining turnover As a result, the estimated turnover of the bulk sector is 795 million euros in 2023 compared to 850 million euros the previous year. In terms of market share, bulk grocery stores will account for 15% of turnover in 2023, organic stores 48% (compared to 43% in 2022) and GSAs nearly 35% compared to 42% in 2022… and 50% in 2020. For example at Intermarché, “70% of our points of sale in France will offer bulk sections in 2024, i.e. 1,325 stores out of a total of nearly 1,900,” indicates a spokesperson for the group. The restart has been underway for a few months. “The barometer conducted last year on our retail customers is rather reassuring and we felt a recovery in bulk grocery customers where 85% of our respondents experienced growth last year compared to 54% in 2022, adds Célia Rennesson. These bulk grocery stores had twice as many customers in 2023 compared to 2022 and an average basket between 25 and 40 euros excluding taxes. The bulk promoter insists: “This demonstrates that when you control this area, with trained staff, handling and stock management processes, it works. »
Uncertainty and waiting In the meantime, the majority of stores are on standby. By shyness of the speakers? “We have supported more than 5,000 points of sale in recent years on their bulk projects, and this market has the potential to wake up with the arrival of a more complete offer, with national brands and private labels to create pricing and impulse”, says Nicolas Fasquelle, country manager France at HL Display. He adds that improving purchasing comfort and its simplification will be essential factors in the democratization of the market. And the climate law? “It stipulates that stores of more than 400 m2 must have, in 2030, 20% of products without primary packaging, which includes F&V or traditional fresh produce, explains Christine Bourge, environment manager at Perifem, the technical trade association. But we still do not have the implementing decree: do we take the aisles, in the fresh section, certain packaged products, the bulk sections, pre-dosed products? Uncertainty also doesn’t help when experimenting with new bulk devices. The actors really try to conform to this register. They
