Pôle D'

Enseignement Supérieur

Pierre Dupraz
email: dupraz@roazhon.inra.fr

Karine Latouche

François Bonnieux

Multifunctional agriculture, policies and markets: understanding the critical

Keywords: agroenvironmental schemes, environmental thresholds, policy design, transaction costs, microeconomics

Starting from the present knowledge of farmers' participation behaviour, this paper explores how the contract specification and the design of AESs may take into account non linearity of the agri-environmental technology. ln the polar case of a pure threshold effect, the total amount of payments and related administrative costs is spent for nothing if the threshold is not crossed. ln some cases, the AES implementation agency may avoid such a Joss by retaining the conclusion of the first contract until a minimal rate of participation is met in the targeted area.

1 "This document presents results obtained within the EU project SSPE-CT-2003-502070 on Integrated tools to design and implement Agro Environmental Schemes (http//:merlin.lusignan.inra.

Introduction

While negative externalities are usually regulated by mandatory policy tools like taxes or command and contrai instruments, the private procurement of public environmental goods is mainly promoted through contractual policy tools based on a voluntary approach. The good targeting of most relevant areas/farms regarding the policy environmental objectives is a critical issue. The existence of ecological discontinuities and thresholds has been revealed in many empirical studies [START_REF] Muradian | Ecological thresholds: a survey[END_REF]. Multiple theoretical developments in ecology predict the existence of ecological discontinuities triggered by threshold values of internai or external variables to the ecological systems. The complexity of ecosystems, because of strong nonlinearities or interrelations between several ecosystems often entai! misallocation of funds for conservation programme. For threshold effects a two stage allocation of conservation funds has been proposed to optimally targe! conservation efforts: in the first stage, the allocation across the eligible sites ensures that thresholds are met in every selected site while within site fund allocation only needs to be based on a physical criterion of environmental effectiveness [START_REF] Wu | Using Sciences to improve the economic efficiency of conservation policies[END_REF]). An important issue related to threshold effects is the uncertainty with which they are associated. Perrings and Pearce (2004) provided a general framework to design the optimal mandatory policy dealing with certain and uncertain ecological thresholds. Because of threshold effects and scale economies in the provision of some environmental services, reaching a critical mass of contracted area is also important for the effectiveness of many policies based on a voluntary approach. Studies have brought interesting information on the behaviour of farmers regarding uptake of AES. The characteristics of the subject of the contract and farmer play an important raie.

Of course uptake mainly depends on the economic incentive offered to eligible farmers. However the success of such schemes also depends on social context. lndeed farmers are more likely to participate if they know someone who already participates. This a clear indication that networking matters (Dupraz et al., 2001 ). Previous studies showed that the uptake of measures also depends of persona! and farm characteristics. Uptake is also higher among better-educated and informed farmers and among those with a positive attitude towards the environment (Morris and Patter, 1995). This indicates that education, information and extension are ail important in explaining participation, and that these factors can gradually shift farmers' behaviour [START_REF] Dupraz | Farmers' participation in European agri-environmental policies[END_REF]. ln several empirical studies regarding particular schemes and EU wide sample, evidence shows that farm households derive a direct satisfaction from their production of environmental services. Such utility variation decrease their willingness to accept for delivering a given bundle of environmental services [START_REF] Dupraz | Farmers' participation in European agri-environmental policies[END_REF]Dupraz et al., 2003). Especially [START_REF] Dupraz | Farmers' participation in European agri-environmental policies[END_REF] analyses the interest of farmers in two measures: plantation in yard and extensification of field margins. They found that the adoption of the measure plantation in yard is mainly explained by persona! and farm characteristics. ln fact the measure plantation in yard gives more persona! benefits to the farmers, confirming that persona! satisfaction influences the decision of farmers to participate. The willingness to participate in agro-environmental schemes of farmers may be partly improved if farmers are interested in environmental improvement and if the con tract they sign have significant impact. The rationality of this behaviour is rooted in the privileged access to the local public good these farm households contribute to produce. ln the case of pure public goods, such attitude would not be rational. This interpretation is supported by the results of [START_REF] Bonnieux | Farmer's supply of environmental benefits[END_REF] where the effect of the farmers' environmental awareness is the strongest for the landscape maintenance, is weaker for biodiversity protection, and three limes weaker, but still significantly positive, for the reduction of polluting practices.

Starting from the present knowledge of farmers' participation behaviour, this paper explores how the contract specification and the design of AESs may take into account non linearity of the agri-environmental technology. ln the polar case of a pure threshold effect, the total amount of payments and related administrative costs is spent for nothing if the threshold is not crossed. ln this example, the AES implementation agency may avoid such a loss by retaining the conclusion of the first con tract until a minimal rate of participation is met in the targeted area.

Micro-economic framework

The underlying agro-environmental technology is K = g( S, e) where K is the expected environmental good and S the total area which is managed according to specified farming practices (denoted e for "environmental effort") and g(.) is a non negative function increasing in S and e.

The thresholds effects are formalised with the critical area S O and the critical effort e 0 :

S ~ S 0 (e) • g(S,e) = 0

(C1]
e ~ e 0 (S) • g(S,e) = 0

[C2]
The social surplus function W(K) is non negative, increasing and concave in K. lt represents the social demand for K, which is expressed by the regulator who offers contracts. Standard contracts (e,p) are considered here for convenience 2 . The environmental effort e refers to the prescription bundle of the contract and the premium p is paid by hectare of land concerned by this contract. They are the same for every contractors who adjust their area under contract. lndividualised contracts would specify each effort and the corresponding premium of one by one contractors and entai! high negotiation costs for both the regulator and each contracter.

For the i th eligible farmer, the willingness to accept for managing the area s; according to the specified farming practices e is formalised by a cost function c(.): c; = c(s;, e, K) . lt is increasing and convex in e and s; and non increasing in K. This cos! function also depend on the prices of the farm marketed inputs and outputs although they are omitted in the formulation. Facing a contract (e,p) where p is the premium offered per area unit, the farmer is expected to maximise her/his profit: Max (p.s; -C;).

S is the total area concerned by con tracts signed in order to produce K: S = L s;

; Without any uncertainty, the policy problem is summarised by: MaxW(K)-Ic(s;,e,K)

e,S;

i s,

There are Iwo cases: the case where the environmental good is produced and the case where it is not.

[P1] ln the first case the optimal policy based on standard contracts (e,p) specifies the environmental effort e* with the premium per area unit p*. ln the second case, the condition C1 or C2 holds because, for any strictly positive K, the social surplus W(K) is too small to meet the baseline costs associated with the thresholds. The optimal policy is to do nothing. Offering any contracts (e,p) would generate a net exchequer cost, equalling the total payments C(e,p) plus regulator's administration costs, which may spend the ail budget devoted to K for no environmental benefits: oc(s;*,e,K)

p = ----- ÔS; K=O [S2]
The farmers derive a total profit L p • s; * -c( s; *, e, 0) and the net social loss is L c( s; *, e, 0) .

i i

The situation S2 likely occurs when farmers' behaviour is not fully known or when the level of the thresholds is ignored. Consequences of asymmetric information are presented first and the consequences of uncertain technology afterwards.

Consequences of asymmetric information

As usual asymmetric information gives the agents the opportunity to deviate from the regulator expectations and benefit from their informational advantage. When the technology exhibit thresholds such behaviours may result in very high losses like the difference between situations S1 and S2. ln the case we are dealing with, it is also important to notice that the private information of a farmer which is not known by the regulator also affects the knowledge and the decisions of other agents. ln the situation S1, the potential contractors are certain that the expected environ mental output K will be produced according to the underlying, well known technology. As soon as they are aware of the unpredictability of other agent behaviour and of threshold effects, some of them will anticipate the non production of K. This will increase their willingness to acceptas far as ils negatively depends on K [START_REF] Bonnieux | Farmer's supply of environmental benefits[END_REF], Dupraz et al. 2003).

An adverse selection problem occurs when the regulator has an imperfect knowledge of the farmers' willingness to accept. Underestimating the farmers' costs and their profit seeking behaviour lead to the overestimation of the total area uptake S for a given contract (e,p). Hence the regulator may propose a contract while C1 holds.

Considering the agro-environmental policies co-financed in the framework of the Rural Development Regulation, the European rules explicitly recommend to calculate the premium p according to the additional cost or the forgone profit of the AEP eligible farmers. Such a calculation often neglects the private transaction costs of the contractors. Moreover this calculation may not take into account the profit seeking behaviour of the farmers who adjust their supply s; * according to their marginal cost of compliance. If the premium is based on the average cost p = C; / S; for a policy objective of s;, the result will be s; * < s; (Dupraz et al., 2003).

The way to account for the heterogeneity of farmers and reduce their profit is to negotiate the following individualised contracts: the i th farmer is offered a contract ( e, c, + ê) in which the entire payment is tailored according to her/his costs for the suitable area and includes an incentive as small as possible to ensure her/his participation. The opportunity of this solution depends on the transaction costs involved in such a procedure. They are always higher than those associated with standard contracts, especially when asymmetric information inilially prevails. This second order solution is worth to be considered when the farmers' profits which are squeezed enable the total contracted area to cross the critical value and provide a social surplus higher than total costs, regulator's administration costs included. The difficulty with this procedure is that the regulator don't know if such conditions hold when he starts the farm by farm negotiations.

A safeguard to cope with the adverse selection problem is to retain the State signature of the contracts until farmers' aggregate commitment reach a minimal area Sm > S O in each relevant designated zone. The corresponding con tracts the farmers are offered are denoted ( e, p , Sm) . If the minimal area is not reached, no con tract is concluded and the loss associated with an inefficient payment is partly avoided. lndeed some public and private transaction costs associated with setting up the scheme and the contracts are still lost. This contract design will also guarantee the co-operation between farmers. Farmers will sign contracts which have a significant effect on environmental quality. These significant impacts will enhance the motivation of farmers to adopta contract. Therefore such cooperative effort of the farmers derives from both the additional information Sm which is included in the con tract specification and the characteristics of their preferences as they directly derive utility from the environmental output. ln the first lime the contract are offered, Sm and p are not supposed to be optimal since the farmers' cost functions are partly hidden to the regulator. He just know that p must not exceed

[ W (g( Sm, e)) / Sm] in order to preserve the tax payer benefit. However, the outcomes of this first contractual round elicit the farmers' willingness to accept and give the regulator the opportunity to optimise the contract for future rounds. Dupraz et al. (2003) displayed an example where the contingent evaluation method is rather successfully used to ex-ante elicit the area the farmers would enter in the agroenvironmental scheme for fixed per hectare premium offered by the State. ln a preliminary stage, such ex-ante evaluation method may provide useful information to design the first contract.

The moral hazard problem derives from the regulator difficulties for observing the actual environmental effort e; * of the farmers or for enforcing the contractual effort e. Hence C2 may hold and reduce the environmental impact of the scheme to nothing. How surprising it looks, there are numerous examples of agro-environmental contracts with uncontrollable prescriptions (Instance nationale d'évaluation du contrat territorial d 'exploitation, 2003).

The classical second order solution is based on the risk aversion of the agents: the regulator performs costly controls on limited samples and applies very strong sanctions when the non compliance happens to be proved, in order to reduce the rate of non compliance. However the design of an appropriate control and sanction system is often limited by laws and pre-existing procedures that determine the maximum penalties in accordance with other references. Once again a cooperative approach might be proposed if the effort e; of a particular farmer is easily observable by his/her neighbours. An example of such effort is the mowing of meadows from their centre to their periphery. This practice is recognised to be very efficient to preserve certain wildlife species. Although official controls are very difficult to organise, farmers frequently and easily and observe the way their neighbours perform. The basic idea is to design a contract between the regulator and a consortium of farmers of a designated area. The consortium receive a global payment P=C(p*,e*) for the provision of K* and nothing if the environmental objective is not reached. Practically this means that the consortium has to reimburse the global payment, possibly with an additional penalty to cover administration cost and the opportunity cost of public funds. However the financial penalty per farmer would be much lower than the optimal sanction associated with individual contracts. As the consortium members are collectively committed and know each other, the enforcement of the contract makes use of social pressures based on persona! relationships since few free riders endanger the payment of ail the others.

Uncertainty on agri-environmental technology

The environmental technology is never totally unknown. ln most cases, environmentalists have an idea of the underlying technology process and especially know if it exhibits threshold effects or doesn't. Under locally specific conditions, the exact threshold critical values are usually unknown. At least policy makers may use existing scientific references or similar experience to be aware of threshold effect and possibly gel a hazy idea of these critical values. lt must be emphasised that the farmer themselves often have less information about the agri-environmental processes than policy makers.

The challenge of the scheme design is to offer and monitor contracts that will produce additional information on the agri-environmental processes, and particularly the threshold critical values. An iterative process that includes successive contractual rounds is needed.

Without any hidden information by the farmers, standard contracts are first offered in few selected representative zones which are delimited according to the targeted environmental output and the suspected scale and threshold effects which are associated. If similar sites are available, different contracts (e,p) may be tested in order to discover the critical values more rapidly and more precisely. Starting with rather high effort and payment, and providing a comfortable profit to farmers may provide advantages: the probability of the environmental good production being higher, the net social cost of the first contractual round will probably be lower, even if the social surplus does not reach the costs of the scheme. Moreover, a success will encourage the farmers for future contractual rounds while a failure might discourage !hem.

Out of the monitoring of the scheme, the regulator will know ex-post if the thresholds have been reached or not. If il is relevant, an extra payment may be offered to associate the contractors to monitoring tasks. ln the iterative process, where previous results are taken into account, the regulator can step by step reach the optimal contract and offer it in additional zones according to the recommendations of [START_REF] Wu | Using Sciences to improve the economic efficiency of conservation policies[END_REF]. A big difficult is the common case of the delayed response of the environmental efforts which slows down the production of knowledge.

Consultations between scientists, decision makers, farmers and environmental organisations should create a dynamic and trustful context where the targeted level of environmental impacts, the monitoring procedures and the contract are step by step redefined taking into account previous results . ln such a context, interrelations between different measures described in literature regarding conservation programmes for instance [START_REF] Wu | Using Sciences to improve the economic efficiency of conservation policies[END_REF] could also be analysed and taken into account in future design of contracts.

When the farmers' cos! function are partly unknown by the regulator, setting a minimal aggregated area to trigger the State signature of ( e, p, Sm) contracts is no more useful in the context of uncertain threshold critical values. The ex post analysis of (e,p) contracts will also provide the required information on the farmers' environmental supply function. Once again the elicitation of the farmers' willingness to accept under different scenarios may provide interesting complementary information. For instance the influence of the probability of the environ mental production associated with different contracts may be tested, before such probability is eventually approximated.

The moral hazard problem characterised by hidden efforts of the contractors is more difficult to deal with because the identification of the source of scheme failure is itself unknown. Still, the preceding proposai of a collective contract with a consortium of farmers may be preferred if the consortium is truly interested in the process of knowledge capitalisation about the agri-environmental technology. Obviously, the farmers won't accept their payment is entirely conditioned by the observation of an environmental output that does not entirely depend on their efforts. Sorne kind of risk sharing system between the regulator and the consortium must be negotiated.

When remarkable biotopes are endangered by the trend of economic changes, [START_REF] Perrings | Threshold effects and lncentives for the Conservation of Biodiversity[END_REF] pointed out that the uncertainty about thresholds is often associated with the uncertainty and irreversibility of potential damages and of their social costs. They show that these cases resist conventional applied economics because no optimum is calculable. Therefore decision making about preservation must rely on non economic criteria. Hence the preservation of the status quo is enforced with strong penalties compared to the private profit of trespassing the conservative standards. Many agro-environmental schemes are used to preserve remarkable sites like marshes, peat land or mountainous dried meadows, from land abandonment or agricultural intensification. Using Perrings and Pearce results justify payments high enough to deter alternative use of land in the sites which are selected by policy makers. Sometimes such payments do not correspond to any tangible effort of the farmer.

3

The French implementation of agro-environmental contracts regarding scale and threshold aspects

Existing measures taking into account sca/e and threshold effects

Severa! examples showing that scale and threshold effects can be found in the French case.

A first example found in Brittany can be presented. lt is the implementation by the "Conseil général d'l/le et vilaine" (NUTS3 regional council) of particular contracts.

The regional authorities successively offered several contractual arrangement to favour the conversion of arable land in grassland buffer zone in areas along the river [START_REF] Kerhouas | La mise en oeuvre de mesures Agro-environnementales sur le département d'llle et Vilaine. Dispositif "Bandes Enherbées[END_REF].

The buffer zone aim at:

• catching and filtering ground ftow • slowing the streaming and avoiding soil erosion • filtering streaming water fixing the solved substances • avoiding river contamination which can occur after plant-care product spraying Environmental impacts of buffer zones are we/1 known. The installation of a buffer zone of 6m leads to the catchment of nearly 70% of plantcare products streaming. For a buffer zone of 18m, 90 % of plant-care products are caught.

The budget allocated to this program reaches 760 000 Euro for 2001-2006period. Three types of contracts exist. The first one deals with implementation of grasslands long the river for 375 Euro/ha if the implantation of buffer zone concern crops. The second one deals with implantation of buffer zones on temporary grassland for 259 Euro/ha. The last one is extensive management of grassland for 63,6 Euro/ha. These amount are increased of 20% if the measures are adopted in a CTE "Contrat Territorial d'Exploitation"

The agreement concerns the installation of maintenance of grassland buffer zone of 20 m large. These agreements aims at protecting the ri vers. Their installation must be based on a precise diagnostic of the territorial conditions. Buffer zones have to be implemented on relevant positions on the watersheds.

This offer was contingent and would have been effective on/y if al least 60% of river bank of the targeted area was under contract. The eligible parcels were those described at 1125000 th from IGN (Institut Géographique Nationa~.

To gather 60% of river bank of a targeted zone under contract was first an objective of the NUTS3 policy. This threshold of 60 % was chosen according to an audit led on the previous 1994-1999 AES contracts aiming at creating grassland buffer zone. The conclusions of this audit showed that a minimum rate of 60% of conversion was needed to lead to efficient environmental impact on a catchment area. During 1994-1999, 536 contracts concerning 1,406 ha with creation of grassland buffer zones were signed. The total budget was 2 900 000 Euro and spent for nothing. The spatial dispersion of contracts signed did not permit any measured significant environmental impact. No consistent reasoning regarding catchment areas was initiated. lt illustrates our situation S2.

After 1999, the "conseil général" contracts were proposed on a particular catchment area to test farmer reactions. After Iwo years, the balance was disappointing because on/y 11 farmers had contracted and the parcels under contracts did not represent the 60% of the targeted area.

On the second chosen area, the threshold of 60 % of the targeted area became not on/y an objective, but a necessary condition to engage contracts. Hence, this necessary condition aimed at reaching a minimal impact on environment and avoiding to give money without any results guarantee. Farmers, gathered around a project leader, signed a declaration of intent. They final/y signed contracts once the area under contract reached the threshold. 34 contracts were signed on a particular watershed following an territorial approach. The chosen watershed was preferentially belonging to a "Contrat Eau paysage Environnement" (water landscape environment contract) signed with the "conseil général". The story of lhis particular example illustrates how the procedure using ( e, p, Sm) contracts initiale a cooperative behaviour of the farmers, al first to reach the threshold.

At a national level, the National Rural Development Program proposes measures to farmers in which threshold effects at the farm level are taken into account. For example, the sub-measure 8.1 "Introduction of integrated crop protection" is paid on/y if a precise part of the farm area is concerned by the decrease in the use of pesticides. The minimum part of the farm which has to be under contract is defined al the NUTS3 level to fit local conditions.

Scale effects are considered at the farm level in measures such as " Winter covering of arable land with intermediary culture". If the farm area committed in this measure reaches 40 % of the farm area, then the paid amount is increased by 20% and if the area committed is less than 10% of the farm area, then the amount paid is decreased by 20 %.

The involvement of local and regional councils must be emphasised. Although scale and threshold effects are considered al the farm level by national/y designed measures, il seems that higher level threshold effects and the necessary coordination farmers' environmental efforts are only considered where local authorities are involved (Instance nationale d'évaluation du contrat territorial d 'exploitation, 2003). ln the few success stories which are reported they take advantage of successive experiences despite the deep changes that have affected the French agro-environmental policy framework. ln contras! the schemes that are managed by the usual agricultural networks clearly privilege the access of ail farmers to the wider range of contractual measures, without any knowledge accumulation strategy at the local level.

Observed problems of French agro-environmental contracts

Attempts to take into account scale and threshold effects may be limited by the Commission degression rules:

The degression rule, introduced and enforced with 1257/99 AESs, is a new component in the budget management. lndeed, for 1257/99 AESs the annual area incentives are calculated following decreasing scale rules (punctual or linear elements/measures are not concerned by such rules). The degression rules do not concern already engaged areas under 2078/92 regulation.

Concerning area measures (apart from the conversion to organic farming that follows a specific rule), and if the total engaged area is above 2 minimum farming areas (Surface Minimale d'lnstallation i.e. SM/) the calculation is done as follows: by multiplying the whole area engaged by the correspondent incentive (= theoretical aid amount); this amount is then divided by the total area engaged (= average amount/ha); the aid is then calculated by brackets, multiplying the average amount by the adequate number of hectares (comprised within the concerned bracket) to which a degression ratio is applied, following the given rules:

Committed area up to 2 Committed area above 2 SMI Committed area above 4 SMI SMI and below 4 SMI 100% 60% 30%

The amount that should be paid to the farmer each year as incentive is the result of the addition of the products calculated. Defined in article L312-6 of the Rural Code, the SMI is presented as the minimum area (under mixed farming system) from which a couple will be able to get enough money for a basic living. The value of the SMI is set at the NUTS 3 level, and depends on the type of crop concerned as well as on the production area. Regularly revised, the SMI under mixed farming system cannot, in any case, be less !han 30% of the national SMI (25 ha at present, revised every 5 years).

Thus in the French case, the degression rule can be in contradiction with the initial design of agro-environmental measures and CTEs. Scale and threshold are taken into account in few French measures and initiatives while the European rules decrease the incentives for farmers to increase the area under contracts.

Co-operative behaviour is not encouraged despite the farmers' preferences. Most of the contract signed are not involved in a territorial approach as developed in the NUTS3 region d'/1/e et Vilaine, which is an exceptional procedure. Yet a CNASEA report published in 1996 [START_REF] Cnasea | Contribution à l'évaluation du dispositif agri-environnement[END_REF] dealing with the results of a French survey on 1183 farmers under contracts 2078/92 highlighted the willing of farmers to avoid dispersion in contracts signed. They insisted on the importance of reaching a minimum area under contract in a precise area. 51 % of interviewees proposed to enhance efficiency of agro-environmental contracts through a minimum rate of adoption. 48 % of interviewees also proposed that contracts should be applied on the whole farm instead of just a part of the farm. Ali this recommendations and farmers' advice were not taken into account in the French application of the regulation 1257/99

The low rate of compliance is a real problem in France. ln Basse-Normandie it indeed appeared that some 40% of the farmers faced some difficulties to enforce the 1257/99 contracts (Eureval-C3E, 2003) -mainly its environmental part -mainly due to the framework planning and to the technical respect of some of the prescriptions. Hence even in a ideal case of collective contracts signed only if the minimal targeted area is concerned, the provision of the environmental good can fail because the global effort of production {individual respect of contract commitments) is not effective.

The same holds in Brittany. The compliance contrais lead nearly to the same results. The compliance with commitments failed in 84 % of CTE controlled. ln 65 % the gap noticed between commitments and reality was major, in 12 % it was significant, and in 23% il was low.

Conclusions

Threshold effects have to be taken into account for implementation of agro-environmental policies. Overly geographical dispersion of public funds and the environmental objective multiplicity of offered contracts without any coordination, which prevail in the present situation in France result in high social losses and impede the knowledge accumulation about locally specific agri-environmental processes. A cooperative approach of the implementation of agro-environmental policies may deal with asymmetric information problems in certain circumstances and should be developed further. The design of agro-environmental schemes and of related contracts must include a knowledge accumulation strategy when uncertainty of agri-environmental processes prevails. lt requires perennial dedicated agencies where local and regional councils are more involved than in present institutional settings of agro-environmental scheme management which are dominated by agricultural organisations.

ITAES project may highlight this possible evolution of contract design through a forthcoming survey on European farmers and a environmental assessment of agro-environmental schemes.

fr/lTAES). lt does not necessary reftect the view of the European Union and in no way anticipates the commission's future policy in this area.


Emmanuel Jolivetl
email: 0olivet@jouy.inra.fr

Anne-Lucie Raoult-Wacé
email: annelucie.wack@cirad.fr

Dominique Vermersch3

The case of INRA and CIRAD, two applied reseatch institutions

Keywords:

Introduction

The aim of this communication is to present concrete experiences of identiSting the requirements and of introducing training courses in ethics for graduate staff: scientists, engineers and doctoral students. INRA Q.ùational institute for Agdcultural Research, http://www.inra.fr) and CIRAD (Centre for Intemational Cooperation in Agriculrural Research for Development, http://www.cirad.fr) are two French applied - research public org"oir"tiotts. Both specialize in the Frelds of agriculture and food processing, but CIRAD is more splcifically oriented tovrards international scientific cooperation with tropical and subtropical countries. Around 10,000 staff, inctuding 3,800 scientists and engineers, work in INRA's 360 units, which cover the whole of France, \rrith 21 centres located in the regions. CIRAD has a staff of 1,800, including 900 scientists. Some of the latter are posted overseas to work in national reseatch otganizations or to support development projects in 50 countries in Africa, Latin Amedca, Asia and the Pacific.

In both cases, the scientists of these organizaions carry out their reseatch work and expertise assignments vith a public service aim. They work in partnership with economic players (private firms and producer or pto..ttot groups), and institutional players (the European Union, local authorities, research or development organizations, etc.) in France and overseas. The current context is marked by a dynamic of transition between the advance of knowledge and its technical application with very short time steps because of the increasing globalization of economic exchanges and, as a corolTary, the issue of competitiveness. Food is a domain that by its very nature is opposed to sudden and over-rapid change, as shown fot instance by the public's massive rejection of irradiated or ftaffgenic foodsruffs, or by the devastating effects of modemity on food behaviour and health (e.g. the prevalence of type 2 diabetes in Pima Indian communities in the USA) (Laoult-Wack, 2001).

The current context is also marked by major differences between the North and the South. The questions do not present themselves in the same terms (R.aoult-Wack andBricas, 2001, Raoult-Wack, 2001): for the rich countries (primarily in the North), where there is currendy an abundance or even a superabundance of food, with high-performance, highty industrialized agricultural and food processing sectors. In these countries, abundance is not necessarily synonymous with health and well-being, as evidenced by the increase in illnesses related to overweight or to an over-"rich" diet (obesity, cardiovascular diseases, cancer, etc.), and to the loss of the identity-related points of reference (e.g. disorders like anorexia or bulimia).

for the poor countries (primarily in the South), where there are still major problems of malnutrition (affecting over 800 million people, according to the WHO), where food demand continues to increase despite the fact that most countries have entered a period of demographic transition (1.7 million extra mouths to feed each week), where poverty is increasing (1,3 billion people living on $1 per day) and where conditions of hygiene are very bad (water problems, in particulat). These difficulties, the origins of which ^re ^t one and the same time political, economic, geographical and climatic, are often aggravated by the weakness of the scientifrc and technical resources supporting agricultural and food sector development.

Lastly, the context is marked by new demands in terms of the safety of food products, in relation to microbiological, chemical or allergic dsks. In this situation, public research is confronted both by crises of consumer conFrdence (food safety and quality, etc.) and by the increasing difFrculty of identiÊ/ing what is in the public interest and of contributing to it. It is at this level that imprecisely formulated ethical questions are now emerging among the engineers and scientists of these organtzations concerning the direction and the purpose of their activities, the values at stake, the nature of their obligations and the existence of barriers that should not be crossed.

Ethical questions, old and new

These touch on various domains. Let us 6$ve a few examples:

-Ethical questions related to the purpose and the potential impact of R&D activities For activities in cooperation with the countries of the South, the major question is: can the model of food sector development initiated by the countries of the North be applied to the entire wodd on a sustainable and equitable basis, given the effects of this development with regard to the energy consumed, the changes in dietary behaviour, the new demands in terms of food safety and the questions of biodiversity and disparities FÂO,2001; Raoult-Wack and Bricas,2001)? -Ethical questions related to the nature of agricultural exchanges and the conversion of collectivel)' owned goods into merchandizable properry What are the real issues at stake in agricultuml policies? Is it a question of supporting production and thus maintaining public intervention, which according to some is contrary to economic efFrciency? Is it a question of correcting market failures and providing greater equity in the distribution of added value bet,veen the different pl"y.t. of the sector? Is it a question of supporting other functions of agriculture' i.e. social and environmental ones? Is it a question of attributing a market value to goods up to now regarded as belonging to all the qualiry of the environment, the right to healthy food? -Ethical questions related to R&D and cooperation procedures These are the questions of partnership between public research and the private sector, the difficulties of Noth-South cooperation in the context of a major imbalance of forces and transculturality (a problem related to the debate on the universality or the relativity of values) [START_REF] Lavigne | Construire une éthique de la coopéradon, un projet pour l'union européenne[END_REF].

Ethical questions related to the exploitation and ownership of the results or to expertise One of the main questions that have troubled scientists at INRA and CIRAD over the last few years has been that of the appropriation of living matter by the large seed companies that produce and market transgenic organisms. But other questions arise, for instance with the activities conducted in the countries of the South @aoult-Wack and Bricas, 2001): by identi$'ing and characterizing the traditional knowledge of a particular human community, a research team disseminates it potentially on a woddwide basis, through its publications. Nothing then prevents other communities or business fi"rms from appropriating and using such knowledge. The community that had time-honoured ancestral control of this knowledge can Frnd itself dispossessed of the possibility of putting it to economic use. It is still legally very difhcult to protect traditional knowledge, in particular for poor countries that do not have access to the costly tools of international legal protection. Ethical ouestions related to the effect of industrialization and the technosciences on the relationship berween man and narure and on man's relationship to his food [START_REF] Raoult-Wack | Dis moi ce que tu manges[END_REF] Scientific and technical progress, together with industrialization, has put a gtowing distance between man and nattue in general, and between man and his food in particular. The current food crises are very revealing about these changes in man's relationship to his food and the radical shift in his perception of nature, previously regarded as being more threatening than threatened. Natural risks now give rise to far less indignation than the risks caused by the action of man (mad cow disease, GMOs). The last two crises may be perceived as major ftansgressions: feeding ruminants with the carcasses of other animals transforms herbivores into camivores, and the manufacture of GMOs, with the grafting of genes from one plant into another, or worse, their transfer between animal species and plant species, comes down to crossing the natural barrier between the different species and kingdoms.

New training requirements

Flence the need, felt by both scientists and their institutions, to support this questioning *ith a basic understanding of the foundations of ethical thinking. A simple examination of the preceding questions shows:

fustly, that an investigation of each of these questions calls on scientiFrc knowledge belonging to vatious disciplinary approaches; secondly, that they cannot be discussed using only the tools of scientific rationality, as they touch on other areas of thought and human action; and lastly, that they are the seat of value conflicts and are thetefore characterized by a lack of ethical determination that intuition alone cânnot remedy.

Moreover, in agriculrural research as in other Ftelds, there arc major pitfalls to avoid as soon as it is a question of ethics. Firstly, one must beware of the danger of being satisfied with good intentions' In our field, it is not enough to criticize the extremes of the productivist model of the North and to develop an interest in animal welfare or in organic agdculture if one wants legitimately to claim to be involved in ethical thinking and practice. Another danger is that of confusing ethical standards and social acceptability, or everr of misrepresenting as an ethical procedure a ceftain type of social engineering designed to encourage public acceptanie of innovations. It is not because certain biotechnological practices are regatded as socially acceptable (therapeutic cloning, xenografts, etc.), or even because one or more ethics committees have pronounced in th;ir favour, that they cease to raise ethical questions. One must relentlessly strive to id.ltt vrhat is really of an ethical nature in the questions raised and contjnually teturn to the "ambitions of ethical thinking", as M. Canto-Sperber, for instance, proposes (Canto-Sperber, 2000).

To meet these needs a committee by the name of Etbotwas set up at the start of 1999 with the help of the scientists of our two institutions (htp://rvwrv.inra.frllntemet/Directions/SED/EES/index'html,) ' Ethos is a working group on ethics tt"i"l"g that aims to promote and to carry out an investigation into the q,r.rtio.itrg in ..o.ro-i. and social ethics in the research currently being conducted at INRA and CiRAD' This Freld was chosen to broaden the scope of reflection, which cannot remain restricted to questions raised by the expanding possibilities for the control of life opened up by biotechnology.

The main achievement of the group over the last two years has been to orgatize rwo seminars for scientists with the objectives of nurturing reflection by the participants upstream of their day-to-day activity and of providing them with the concepts required for making ethical judgements. These contributions, primarily in the form of lectures udth a philosophical bias, and workshops, concemed various different domains:

an explanation of the ethical ftameworks that gave rise to economics, the pdnciples of impartiality on which they are based and the existential difFrculties to which they give rise; the role of modem thought in our vision of nature and science, the limits and the criticisms that these conceptions encountet when human activity ptoduces potentially irreversible changes to the universe around us;

the essential role of technoscience in this transformation of the wodd, *1s "dss12[ilization of ethics" that results from the new situations that it produces, the paths available to us to remedy the lack of ethical determination.

The lectures deliveted during the 1999 course for scientists gave rise to a publication (Arnsperger et al, 2007), with the arm of enabling the work resulting ftom these courses to circulate more $/idely. The initiatjve will be continued in 2001 and2}02. The follovring topics will be treated in greater depth:

the foundations of ethics and their connections with moral philosophy; the use of tationality in ethical thinking, how it differs from scientific rationality and the similarities between them; the question of scientific language and communication with our fellow citizens, the translations and reinterpretations that we are obliged to make; ethical universalism and multiculturalism; the social role of scientists in the policy arcna and their place in the society.


Stéphane Gouin
email: gouin@agrorennes.educagri.fr

Maître De Confërences

Evolutions de la consommation des produits laitiers et attentes des consommateurs français et européens

Keywords:

Délégué Rëgional Ouest CIDIL I'amélioration du niveau d'éducation ; la dégradation du niveau d'emplois. Tableau i: Les facteurs d'évolution de la consommation alimentaire Source : Auteurs.

Ces différents facteurs ont bouleversé la structure de la population française. Celle-ci fait état aujourd'hui d'une structure familiale par foyer moins nombreuse, dominée notamment par des mono- ménages. A ces caractéristiques, ajoutons un nombre accru de personnes àgées (tableau 2).

Tableau 2 : Evolutions en France

Introduction

Depuis la trans-nationalisation des marchés, en 1976, les styles de vie des consommateurs ont convergé en Europe. Cependant, leurs habitudes alimentaires font apparaître, aujourd'hui encore, des disparités que I'on ne peut ignorer tant par le concept que par l'usage des produits.

Ces évolutions tiennent principalement à des facteurs technologiques, socio-économiques et culturels, tant de nature conjoncturelle que structurelle...Il en résulte que, depuis I99l,lapart des dépenses de la consommation alimentaire, en valeur relative, n'est plus le principal poste budgétaire de nombreux pays européens, dont la France. Les dépenses consacrées au logement et à l'équipement, à la santé ou encore aux loisirs s'accroissent un peu plus annuellement. Pour enrayer la baisse tendancielle des dépenses alimentaires, les industriels recherchent à créer de la valeur ajoutée, notamment aux produits basiques ou encore à introduire de nouveaux concepts. Parmi ces nouveautés, citons les produits issus du secteur laitier. Face à ces mutations, plusieurs interrogations se posent :

-Quelles peuvent être les évolutions de la consommation alimentaire et plus spécialement celles liées ou secteur laitier ces prochaines années ? -Quels seront les consommateurs de demain ? -Quels facteurs compétitifs disposent les entreprises laitières du Grand-Ouest pour satisfoire les tendances et perspectives de Ia demande ?

Cet article se décompose en trois parties. Une première partie fait état des évolutions et des comportements alimentaires. Une seconde partie traite de l'évolution et des perspectives des produits laitiers. Une troisième partie expose les opportunités stratégiques du secteur laitier du Grand Ouest.

l. Evolutions des comportements alimentaires

Au cours de ces demières arutées, la société française a subi de nombreuses modifications, tant du point de vue socio-démographique, psychologique, que de la gestion du temps ou de l'organisation du travail...Ces changements ont eu un impact important sur le mode de consommation des français, lesquels n'aspirent plus aujourd'hui aux même désirs, ni aux même besoins.

Les facteurs influençant la consommation alimentaire

Les préoccupations alimentaires des français se sont considérablement modifiées. Elles résultent d'un ensemble de facteurs liés aux modes de vie (tableau 1):

le ralentissement de la croissance démographique ; la diminution de la taille des foyers ; l'augmentation du nombre des mono-foyers ; le vieillissement de la population ; l'accroissement du nombre de femmes au travail ; -Augmentation de la consommation de produits biologiques, de produits du terroir ou régionaux.

-Apparition de produits éthiques... Géographiques Mondialisation versus nationalisation voire régionalisation.

-Produits à marques internationales ou européerures.

-Produits à ancrages régionaux.

Technologiques

Amélioration des technologies de fabrication, de conservation, de commercialisation.

-Accroissement des plats industriels. Produits de 5" gamme (précuits sous vide). 1989). Des produits vendus à l'unité à faible valeur ajoutée ont laissé place à des aliments standardisés sur des segments micro-ciblés (tableau 4 ).

Tableau 4: Evolutions de la société de consommation Source : d'après R. Rochefort,7998 La société de consommation française est entrée, depuis 1998, dans un modèle dit <postmoderne>> (Cabin et al., 1998), abandonnant simultanément l'ostentatoire et l'immatériel (Herpin, 2001) pour une ((consommation Cerel, 2-3 julllet2003 Cerel,2003 goûts nouveaux (ethnique) ou celui de la perception des aliments (Fischler,1990(Fischler, , 2000)). Toutefois, des particularismes prégnants subsistent issus de la culture et de l'histoire de chaque pays.

Consommer un produit alimentaire ne repose donc plus uniquement sur un besoin physiologique. I1 couvre une dimension cognitive et affective dont les caractéristiques tangibles et intangibles du produit sont multi-critères (Lalhou, 2000).

L'alimentation n'est, par conséquent, plus un simple produit au sens biologique, mais un véritable < objet >> de socialisation à forte valeur symbolique (Baudrillard,1970 -Herpin, 2001), qui les rend à la fois attirants et menaçants (Desarthe, 1992).

Du produit standardisé des années 70, en passant par les produits allégés puis enrichis des années 80 ; des produits fonctiorurels des années 90 pour enfin accéder à des produits alicaments, wellness ou nutraceutiques dans les années 2000, les industries agro-alimentaires ne cessent de débanaliser les produits en leur intégrant davantage de valeur ajoutée.

Cette évolution débouche sur une redéfinition des segments de consommation et plus particulièrement sur les unités de vente consommateurs. En effet, les industriels comme les distributeurs raisonnent maintenant en univers de consommation (gestion catégorielle des produits). Cette nouvelle approche des marchés de consommation influence de ce fait de nouvelles stratégies de marques: marques cautions, ombrelles, transversales ou croisées. Elle reconsidère les relations contractuelles entre les industriels et les distributeurs (partenariat contractuel), le rôle croissant des marques de distributeurs au détriment des marques nationales. Enfin, elle initie de nouvelles politiques merchandising fondées sur des unités de besoins coûrme le home meal replacement (prêt à consommer chez soi), à assembler, prêt à cuire.

Si nous nous référons aux produits laitiers, nous assistons à une micro segmentation des marchés fondée sur une analyse de positionnement multicritères des produits (basiques, allégés, enrichis) pour des micro-cibles de consommateurs : enfants en pleine croissance, femme enceinte, personnes âgées, adolescent, famille...La mise ne marché des produits utilise alors une approche de situation/fonction (graphique I). Ceux-ci entraînent des mutations dans les tendances socio-alimentaires qui ont des impacts sur les comportements alimentaires individuels des consommateurs européens et influent sur les logiques de consommation.

Au-delà du plaisir, valeur transversale et inéluctable, sept logiques socioculturelles sont prises en compte : Ia qualité, la socialisation, la culture, la santé, les services, la tradition et la transgression.

Les grands enseignements sont le désengagement de la

II. Evolutions et perspectives des produits laitiers

Comme pour les autres secteurs alimentaires, les consommateurs privilégient les produits laitiers incorporant de l'innovation sur la base du service et plus particulièrement sur l'usage par rapport à f instant de consommation. Globalement, les segments de la crème, l'ultra frais et le fromage tirent mieux leur épingle du jeu que le lait et les corps gras (graphique 2). Le constat que l'on peut tirer de chacune des familles de produit est le suivant Le lait est dominé par le segment UHT demi-écrémé (77% des achats). Ses parts de marché poursuivent leur érosion depuis 10 ans, malgré les tentatives de diversification des cibles. Le lait souffre d'une image basique, souvent banalisée en décalage avec les attentes du marché.

Les produits premiers prix et les marques de distributeurs (MDD -27% du marché), cannibalisent inévitablement les marques nationales et de ce fait annihilent les progressions potentielles.

Le beurre est le produit laitier le plus en retrait du marché (consommation réduite d'un tiers en 10 ans). Les tendances alimentaires marquées par la diminution des corps gras nuisent à l'image du beurre. Ce segment est jugé trop banalisé, peu < marketé >, doté de faibles campagnes publi-promotiorurelles. Le beurre souffre de l'accroissement des parts de marché des MDD (29%).

La crème repose sur un marché très dynamique (innovations, services-usages, communication). Sa consommation a doublé en 10 ans, grâce à la crème UHT. Ce segment est aujourd'hui encore dominépar les marques nationales (40% de parts de marché). Toutefois, les MDD progressent (35%). Les prix de vente à la consommation en 2000 ont pénalisé la croissance de cette famille de produits.

Les fromages arrivent en tête des dépenses des produits laitiers des ménages français. La Les ultra-frais arrivent en tête des produits laitiers consommés (57% de parts de marché). Ils poursuivent leur progression, depuis 10 ans et ce, malgré une hausse sensible des prix en 2000. Son succès tient à la dynamique d'innovation des entreprises (PME et Au delà d'une analyse par famille de produits, l'intérêt porté par les consommateurs pour les produits laitiers tient à leurs multi-usages pour des instants de consommation tout aussi variés (graphique 3). Toutefois, au regard d'une pseudo analyse EMOFF (environnement, menaces, opportunités, forces et faiblesses), les produits laitiers disposent encore d'atouts et de potentiels à exploiter (tableau 9). Force est de constater que les capacités d'innovation et de communication influent considérablement sur la dynamique des marchés. -Développement des fromages ingrédients.

-Apport en calcium.

-Image naturelle et authentique.

-Marques fortes, innovantes et communiquantes.

-

Faiblesses

-Produit basique à emballage banalisé.

-Marché peu différencié.

-Caeur de cible jeune (de 10 ans).

-Marché banalisé MDD et MPP.

-Image souvent désuète.

-Image négative (gras et cancérigène).

-Caeur de cible rural et âgé.

-Consommation en stagnation.

-Emergence de produits concurrents (huile d'olive, corps gras anti-cholestéro1).

-Banalisation des emballages.

-Usages trop limités aux fins de repas.

-Concurrence étrangère.

-Baisse des ventes à la coupe.

-Recul des AOC.

-Baisse des ventes de camembert.

-Segments en déclin.

-Image industrielle.

Menaces

-Emergence de produits de substitution fius de fruits, barres de céréales. . . ).

-Perte de présence au petit déjeuner.

-Concurrence forte avec les nouveaux corps gtas et la crème.

-Nouvelles modes : cuisine à la vapeur... -Produit perçu comme peu digeste.

-Nouvelles modes gastronomiques.

-Concurrence des produits snacking.

- Toutefois, il est possible de recourir à l'une des quatre stratégies décrites ci-dessous (graphique 4) :

-Une stratëgie d'amélioration correspondant à une differenciation par le haut (offre améliorée).

-Une stratégie de spécialisation conespondant à la recherche d'un segment produit/marché (offre spécifique)

-Une stratégie d'épuration correspondant à une différenciation par le bas (offre de référence).

-Une stratégie de limitation correspondant aussi à une differenciation par le bas mais ciblée sur un segment particulier (offre ciblée).

Graphique 4 : Positionnements stratégiques des produits laitiers.

Conclusion

Le secteur des produits laitiers peut encore se considérer comme un véritable < or blanc > pour notre pays, et plus spécialement pour la Bretagne. Bien des pistes restent encore peu ou mal explorées alors que des opportunités existent.

Parmi ces pistes citons : les secteurs comme la biscuiterie-pâtisserie, les fromages, le traiteur, la RHD autour de nouveaux concepts de services et d'usages, à partir de marques fortes ou thématiques.

Cependant, la réussite de ces choix dépend d'un état d'esprit que les acteurs de la filière lait doivent intégrer:

-Recherche d'une constante débanalisation des produits, même les plus basiques, à partir de concepts répondant mieux aux cibles selon leurs contraintes situationnelles.

-Créer davantage de valeur ajoutée aux produits (services/usages de consommation) pour enrayer les dépenses de consommation alimentaire.

-Rechercher des axes de consommation et des produits qui différencient de la concurrence.

-Axer les produits sur les critères de la santé/plaisir, en intégrant les contraintes de sécurité et d'environnement mais aussi de praticité.

-Elargir les cibles de consommateurs pour éviter de tomber dans des niches saturées ou trop restrictives.

-Garantir la qualité sanitaire des produits et le faire savoir.

-Privilégier les unités de besoin en mettant en avant les valeurs intrinsèques (ingrédients, modes de préparation...) et extrinsèques (marques, emballage, communication...).

-Satisfaire les fonctions de consommation : prêt à consommer, à préparer, à assembler selon les positionnement des produits (basiques, festifs, exotique, biologiques...).

La réussite de ces choix et de ces actions dépendent de la réactivité des entreprises, mais aussi de leur capacité d'anticipation en matière de veille sociologique et économique. Elle relève également de la volonté de collaboration en < B to B > sous la forme d'accords entre industriels, de contractualisation avec la grande distribution et la RHD, mais également l'organisation par filière et I'action collective.

Cerel, 2-3 juillet 2003

  DOCUlïilEiITATOl{ ÉCOl.lOII,III RURALE RE}IlilES I illlll lllil lillt ililt ilfl ililt ilt ill x000928* Cerel, 2-3 ju1llet2003 Démarche sociétale, citoyenne (développement durable).

  Les tendances socio-alimentaires en Europe : Les grands changements socioculturels en Europe relevés par Risc Intemational, lors d'un récent séminaire du Cidil, témoignent de la frilosité des européens, d'un individualisme grandissant, de valeurs plaisirs plus modérées et d'une consommation où la frénésie n'est plus de mise.

Graphique 2 :

 2 Les indices d'achats des ménages par prodult laitier entre 1988 et 2000, base 100 en 1988 Source : CIDIL -SECODIP -NIELSEN, 200'l

  plupart des familles de produits progressent depuis ces demières années. Parmi les produits les plus sollicités, citons les pâtes molles (32% du marché) et les pâtes pressées cuites (27Vo réussite tient, en partie, par les innovations (tableau 8/ et l'investissement publicitaire (138,3 millions d'euros en 2000-source Cidil)l.

  multinationales), et plus particulièrement à leur offre diversifiée. Il s'explique également par l'investissement publicitaire sur ce segment (128 millions d'euros en 2000).

I

  Pour l'armée 2000, le secteur alimentaire (hors boissons) a investi 316,3 millions d'euros en publicité dont 21,3o dans le sectçur laitier (Cidil / secodip Piges, Juin 2001).

  Age cornpris entre 35 et 44 ans CSP modeste à rnoyenneHabite dans une commune>I00 000 hab.

	Modèles	Segments de	o/o total	o/ /o		Caractéristiques
		population	grouDe
		Familial éclaté		10,9 Consomme olutôt des oroduits service
	Familiaux	Familial modeste	47,5	1 4, I Age compris entre 25 et 44 ans
					CSP modeste
					Habite une commune <2000hab ou grande ville
					Consomme des produits premiers prix et de service
		Familial rationnel		13,3	Age compris entre 25 et 65 ans
					CSP moyenne
					Habite en commune <2 000 hab.
	Culturels	Brassage culturel, génération mosaïque.	-Produits exotiques et nomades à
		Métissage culinaire			forte dimension ethnique.
		uvË,r 4plltt
			1970		1980	1990	2000	2002
	Population (en millions d'habitants)	50,1		53,7	56,6	58.7	s9.3
	Ménages (en millions) Taille des ménages	16.4 3,02		19"1 2.70	21,8 2.s7	24,2 )a)	24.7 2,39
	Personnes de plus de 60 ans (7o)	18,0		17,0	19,0	20.5	20.7
		Cerel, 2-3 julllet2003

-Produits solution.

Analyse qualitative et quantilative de la consommation La France comme la plupart des pays occidentaux est passée de la subsistance à la satiété (L. Malassis,

			Cerel,2003
	Tableau 3	des consommateurs
					Consomme des produits de service et de plaisir
	Au jour le jour		9,2	Age supérieur à 65 ans
					Retraité
					Habite plutôt dans une commune >100 000hab
					Consomme des produits frais de qualité
	Non-familiaux Traditionnel		20,2 Age supérieur à 65 ans
					Retraité
					Habite principalement une commune <2 000hab
					Consomme oeu de oroduits service
	Célibataire campeur	52,5	14,3	Age<25 ans
					CSP moyenne à supérieure ou étudiant
					Habite commune >100 000hab ou Paris
					Surconsomme des produits service
	Isolé			18,0 Age>65 ans
					Retraité
					Habite des petites ou moyennes communes
					Consomme des produits basiques
	Source: Crédoc, 1998.
	Ainsi, les consommateurs d'aujourd'hui sont qualifrés de versatiles (génération ( zappeur >) ; de plus en plus infidèles aux marques, opportunistes, éclectiques et hédonistes, polysensuel et calculateurs.
	Les tendances le confirment, notamment par la recherche d'un bien être familial, d'une appartenance
	tribale et nomade. Elle se réfère à une génération mosaïque (Excousseau, 2001) où émerge un marché junior, ( adulescent > (< effet Tanguy >>), voire < bobo > (bourgeois bohème -David Brook, 1999).
	1.2.

  rassurante >, fondée cette fois sur des valeurs de santé et d'écologie(Brousseau, 2001). Ces faits augurent des changements chez le < mangeur moderne >> tels qu'une ouverture aux

	Périodes	Caractéristiques	Evolutions
	1950-1968	Pénurie à l'abondance	Arurées glorieuses
	1968-1973	Abondance contestée	Années glorieuses
	1974-t98s	Abondance à satiété	Années paresseuses
	1985-1990	Consommation individualiste	Arurées peureuses
	t99t-1997	Consommation en panne	An:rées frileuses
	Depuis 1998	Consommation postmodeme	Années prometteuses
			J

  .3. L'ëvolution et les tendunces des dépenses de consommation Les dépenses des français consacrées à leur alimentation n'ont cessé de croître en valeur absolue(tableau 5). Toutefois, si l'on se réfère à leurs dépenses budgétaires, celles-ci régressent depuis 1991 (tableau 6).L'une des principales raisons repose sur la stabilité des prix à la consommation et l'évolution des revenus per capita.A contrario, les dépenses consacrées au logement et au transport sont en constante progression. Elles sont qualifiées de dépenses incompressibles, alors que celles liées à I'alimentation et à I'habillement sont compressibles.Enfin, les dépenses de santé et dédiées aux culture-loisirs sont également en progression. Elles s'expliquent, pour partie, par une préoccupation croissante de la santé et du bien être des individus, et par une nouvelle gestion du temps libre (RTT...).Fruits et lézumes (dont pomme de terre)

			Cerel, 2003
		t975	1980	198s	1990	t99s	2000
	En milliards	30,7	53,6	90,3	173,4	1.27,9	170,0
	d'euros
	%	23,5	2I,4	20,7	19,2	I8,2	16,6
	Tableau 6 :		des
			1970	1980	1990	2000	2010
	Alimentation		26,0	2t,4	19.2	16.4	t4.4
	Habillement		9"6	7?	6,5	5,0	4,3
	Logement		15,3	17,5	18,9	19,0	19,4
	Equipement maison	r0,2	9,6	8,0	7?	6.2
	Transport communication	t3.4	16,6	I7,0	17,3	18,4
	Santé		7,1	7.7	9"5	1 1.9	13.0
	Loisirs		6 9	7,3	7,7	9,1	10,7
	Divers		1 1,5	12,6	t3,2	14,0	t3.6
	Totaux		100,0	100.0	100,0	100,0	100,0
	Source : Insee,2003
	Tableau 7 : Evolution de la structure de la consommation	famille de	alimentaires
	Alimentation		1980	1985		1990	2010
	Total		21.4	20,6		19,2	14,4
	Produits à base de céréales	2.4	') ')		2,0	1,3
	Viandes		6.2	5.9		5?	3.6
	Poissons		0,8	0,7		0,8	0,6
	Produits laîtiers		2.5	2,6		2,4	1,9
	Corps gras		0,9	0.8		0,7	0,4
							5

1Tableau 5 : Consommation alimentaire des en milliards d'euros courants Source : Comptes Nationaux, 2002.

Si l'on se réfère aux prévisions de I'INSEE, les dépenses de la consommation alimentaire poursuiwons structurellement leur régression (tableau 7). L'apport de plus de valeur ajoutée s'impose donc pour enrayer cette baisse prévisionnelle.

  consommation, le plaisir maîtrisé, les conflits entre individus et I'instabilité. Le tout caractérisé par moins de vision à long terme, le rejet de la complexité, peu d'investissements et d'efforts, moins de plaisirs intenses, la recherche de bénéfices personnels et un fort besoin d'évasion.Le levier santé est marqué par un repositionnement assez net en faveur des aliments fonctionnels, des compléments alimentaires et le fait de prendre soin de soi à travers son alimentation. A I'opposé, restriction, régimes et expertise nutritionnelle sont égratignés. L'Allemagne et la Grande Bretagne sont les plus concernées, alors que la France est à la traîne.En matière de qualité, la France se rattrape. Malgré tout, produits naturels, information et signes distinctifs sont globalement délaissés. On constate un décrochage des consommateurs européens après le besoin de réassurance exacerbé par les peurs suscités lors des crises alimentaires(Gouin -Cordier, 2002).La tradition revient à la source. La véracité est de mise au détriment des récupérations superficielles et faciles. Les Allemands et les Italiens y sont les plus sensibles.En matière de culture,le goût et la cuisine sont devancés par le dépaysement suscité par l'alimentation ethnique. La France est la plus impliquée sur ce << métissage > tout en se faisant voler la vedette par l'Espagne concernant l'intérêt sensoriel ! La transgression est divisée en valeurs physiques et psychologiques. Satiété et désir inésistible d'un côté, plaisir coupable et alimentation palliative de I'autre. Ces deux demiers étant les plus dynamiques avec une courbe à la hausse, en particulier pour la Grande Bretagne.Fonctionnalité, praticité, modernité, accessibilité décrivent les solutions-service qui se sont imposées dans I'offre alimentaire. Elles connaissent un déclin en terme d'inspiration lequel dewait être compensé par le développement du nomadisme. C'est de nouveau la Grande Bretagne qui est en pointe sur cette dimension ! Enfin, la socialisation, définre par les notions de partage et de convivialité, est marquée par le caractère informel des prises alimentaires et le lien social induit par le repas. L'Espagne est en vue sur les repas sans contraintes ; la France étant leader sur la convivialité.

	En résumé, les pays latins présentent des similitudes. Les pays du Nord de l'Europe offrent une image
	complètement différente.

L'Allemagne est partagée entre santé et tradition. L'Italie privilégie l'enracinement maternel et rejette la modernité. La France est caractérisée par son art de vivre, sa dimension sociale et son attachement à la gastronomie tout en s'ouvrant aux autres cultures. L'Espagne démontre un rapport sain et positif à l'alimentation et affirme un réel leadership. Enfin, la Grande Bretagne affiche des tendances plus modemes en terme de nomadisme et d'alimentation déculpabilisée.

6

Cerel, 2-3 julllet2003

Cerel,2003

  Opportunités stratégiques du secteur laitier du Grand Ouest La situation du secteur laitier offre de nombreuses opportunités de différenciation. Une stratégie de différenciation horizontale reposant sur un marketing classique, axé sur la segmentation de la clientèle et le positionnement des produits. Une stratégie de differenciation verticale trouvant son origine dans un niveau variable de qualité et dans un lien original avec la production(Broussolle et a1.,7994).La branche lait reste encore une activité de volume où les effets d'expérience et les économies d'échelle sont importants. Elles favorisent principalement les stratégies de domination par les coûts et les faibles marges.

			Cerel,2003
	lll.
						Recommandations
						nutritionnelles
					Risque de	contre les sucres.
					disparition du	-Nouvelles règles
					rayon coupe.	d'étiquetage du
					-Image peu	fromage
					conforme aux
					tendances : ne pas
					grossir, peu de
					matières grasses.
	Opportunités	-Développer la publi-promotion	-Qualités nutritionnelles	-Nouvelles cibles -Nouveaux	-Développer les usages/ situations-
		conventionnelle.	(vitamines A,D...)	usages, nouvelles	cibles.
		-Elargir la cible /	-Créneaux peu	recettes.	-Répondre aux
		usages-produits	développés :		tendances
			beurres		nouvelles de la
			ingrédients.		consornmation :
			-Nouvelles cibles
			pour de nouveaux
			usaees/oroduits.

goûts, facilité d'utilisation, multi-usages.-Création de valeur ajoutée forte.-Cibles à exploiter.Cerel, 2-3 julllet2003