| France is one of the world top producers of oysters and mussels by aquaculture with 140 000 tonnes of oysters, 60 000 tonnes of mussels and an ex-farm turnover accounting to 350 millions US$ in 1996. The French market is by far the largest one in Europe for oyster and is supplied entirely by domestic production, with very little external trade. On the contrary, the French market for mussel is a very competitive one, widely open to imports. Given the evolution of market conditions due to the development of supermarkets, to the competition of new value added products and to the modification of consumer's habits, the French oyster and mussel producers have started to implement various strategies of product differentiation and of quality approach. These... |
