French produce is renowned worldwide for its quality, and is often the backbone of popular modern French cuisine.
There are some rules in French supermarkets that may surprise you however, particularly if you have recently moved and have yet to get to grips with some of the quirks of living in France.
Below, we look at four rules for French supermarket shoppers.
1: Why you never see ‘two-for-price-of-one’ offers in France
In France, supermarkets are restricted on the discounts they can place on foods, even those close to expiry, a rule that has been in place since 2019.
Products can only be discounted by a maximum of 34% regardless of their status. This is why you do not see ‘two-fers’ (two-for-the-price of one offers) in France as abound in some other countries.
Sometimes you will see deals such as ‘68% off the second product purchased’ but in reality this amounts to 34% off of each of the products.
The rules are part of the EGalim laws that look to protect French farmers and producers alongside reducing damage to the environment.
With thin profit margins per item sold, supermarkets run mammoth supply chains in France, with tens of thousands of stores ranging from tiny convenience markets in city centres to the ‘hypermarkets’ in out of town areas.
Generally, French supermarkets have strong logistics, and you are unlikely to find food on shelves that is out of date.
In a rare occasion where this is the case however, anyone who purchases an out-of-date product can return it to the store for a refund or exchange it for an in-date product.
This applies both to products with a strict use-by date – date limite de consommation or DLC, which should be consumed before a specific date (à consommer jusqu’au) – and best-before dates (date de durabilité minimale, DDM) which have a recommendation to consume them within a specific time (à consommer de préférence avant).
These rules are laid out by the French Finance Ministry.
Note that supermarkets are not only restricted from selling food that has gone past these dates, but cannot give it away for free either, due to health and safety regulations and EGalim restrictions.
2: Separating multi-pack items
Perhaps the biggest shock to those from outside of France, consumers can sometimes be seen ripping apart the plastic surrounding multipacks of bottles of water and milk to take a single item.
This is generally accepted as the norm - as long as the item is not available to buy in a single unit (at the same product quantity) elsewhere.
For example, if your sparkling water brand of preference is packaged in a six-bottle multipack of 75cl each bottle, and the only other size available in the shop for that brand is 33cl, you can take an individual bottle out of the pack.
However, if 75cl bottles are available in both single and multipacks, you should take the singular bottle.
Some French people will tell you this is also the case for any product sold in a multipack with individual packaging, such as yoghurts.
However, you cannot rip apart packaging in this way to purchase products in a single manner if are only sold in lots.
In this case, the lot is a ‘single product’ that cannot be further individualised.
Certain products such as yoghurts do not have individual barcodes, and could not be scanned at a checkout unless you have the full packaging relating to purchasing all the yoghurts.
If in doubt, it is best to check with a store worker if individual products in a pack can be taken out, but usually it is not possible.
3: Can you try fresh produce like grapes before you buy?
It is not legal to ‘test’ fruit and vegetables by eating a small amount before putting them into your basket.
This applies both to packaged goods and those sold loose, market-style in the aisles.
“Even if the fruit in question is freely available or sold in bulk, you have to wait… before you can taste it,” said consumer rights expert Olivier Gayraud to media outlet TF1.
You can only have a taste if you are invited to try the produce by a shop worker, such as someone giving out free samples.
Technically, eating produce could be classed as theft, leading to a fine.
In reality however, you will likely just be asked to leave the store if caught and potentially banned for repeat offences.
Note that in traditional markets, as well as salons and fairs, consumers have more leeway in sampling goods before purchasing them.
Again however, they still have to be given permission to do so unless it is made explicitly clear the produce is available to consume free of charge.
4: Having your bag checked
Security guards at French supermarkets can ask to look inside a shopper’s bag at any point while they are inside the premises.
However, they are only allowed to conduct a physical check if the consumer gives their consent.
Otherwise, they can ask the shopper to leave their bag by the store entrance and call a police officer (who has the right to conduct a physical check inside a person’s bag in all situations).
Generally, shoppers carrying other larger bags, either from other shops or in the form of shopping caddies, are asked to leave them at the store entrance.
Smaller bags such as handbags can be carried through into the shop.
