A very happy new year from Rungis to all FPJ readers. And what better time than this for Mystic Philippe to look into his crystal ball?

One of the questions filling the frozen January air in Paris is “what will be the buzzword in the French industry in 2006?” In my view, it might well be “proximity”.

But what does that mean? The concept of proximity, when applied to the distribution of fresh produce, has several possible definitions and can apply to any type of retail outlet, from supermarkets to direct sales from the farm, not to mention home deliveries. Of course, traditional greengrocers are also an integral part of the concept and I do not think they need to be told that.

As well as being a matter of distance, of course proximity is also a question of time: for the French consumer, having the chance to purchase fruit and veg while the kids are at school, during lunchtime, at the end of the work day, or even at night is in itself a proximity issue.

Thirdly, face-to-face contact with fresh produce experts is also extremely important as the consumer mind makes its lifestyle choice from a wide and diverse range of products. This is particularly true for traditional retailers, a fact that was amongst the main conclusions of a survey recently published over here.

But it is strange that the French generally do not consider open-air markets as offering “proximity”.

Going by my own definitions, open-air markets should be the very archetype of the concept of proximity. They feature the freshest of produce and, for most people, timeliness of offer. Direct contact with the retailer - and sometimes even the producer - is also there in the equation, which for me puts the markets nicely into the proximity bracket.

However, for a French consumer an open-air market is more a place to browse and ponder than to actually buy their food. The reasons are many: “we don’t think of them”; “we already bought our stuff at the supermarket”; “they are too expensive” being chief among them.

One shouldn’t be too surprised. The French consumer is reputed for a lack of loyalty, and the ability to “switch” from one type of outlet to another on a whim. The aforementioned survey also showed another deep-lying trend: French shoppers’ free time is used to do anything but purchase food.

In this context, smaller retailers, and indeed larger retailers for that matter, will have to emphasise the high quality of their fresh produce and their distinct product knowledge if they want to reverse the trend, and use proximity to close in on the conscience of the consumer of 2006.