Discover France's sweet flavours at Sweets Middle East

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Sweets & confectionary: treats for all ages
Originating from a strong know-how that has been set in French culinary traditions for over five centuries, French sweets and confectionary compose a large family. Hard boiled sweets and lollipops, gum drops, fruit jellies, marzipan such as Calissons, pastilles, chewing-gum, liquorices, nougats, marshmallows, candied fruit… and over 600 regional specialties… the French sweets & confectionary scene is one of the richest worldwide. Furthermore, it represents over a hundred companies and thousands of master confectioners. Nearly 6000 people are employed in this sector and the annual turnover in 2006 was 1,23 billion Euros. The total production accounted for 236,000 tons in 2006 featuring 20 different varieties of sweets as well as the regional specialties.
Chocolate: 'food of the Gods'

The French are renowned for producing some of the best types of chocolate in the world. The greatest French 'Chocolatiers' use high-quality cacao and traditional techniques to create a harmonious and balanced blend of rich flavours and complex nuances for a taste that almost defies description. The quality of the chocolate is critical for making the very finest bonbons and varied chocolate candies, patisserie and even chocolate for drinking, therefore French chocolatiers are committed to using the truly superb chocolate. Furthermore the profession of chocolatier in France rests on a thorough knowledge of traditions and an intimate relationship with the product. The knowledge of how to blend variously sourced chocolates with differing cacao content to create the lusciousness-factor, the mouth-feel and the visual appeal, as well as the chocolatier's signature style are assets that the French chocolate industry are proud to master.
The French chocolate industry is made up of 56 companies, representing 13,000 employees that produce 90% of the chocolate in France. In 2006 France exported over 11.5 million Euros worth of chocolate to the Middle East representing 1,633 tons.

Cakes & Biscuits: tasty classics
The origin of the word 'bizcuit' is from French and means 'eighty times cooked'. The cake & biscuit industry in France is the heir of a very old French culinary tradition dating back to the Middle Ages. Cakes & biscuits come in a variety of tastes thanks to a large choice of recipes and wide range of biscuits: dry biscuits and snacks, egg based biscuits and wafers, patisserie and chocolate biscuits, and assortments, madeleines, cakes, waffles, gingerbread, filled biscuits, pound cakes and sponge cakes, regional specialties,… Only the finest ingredients are used by the French biscuit industry which continually strives to excite and delight consumers of all ages as well as being committed to address health and nutritional issues.

The production of biscuits is present all over France even though it is mainly concentrated in the West, which represents more than 50% of the global production. This is explained by the fact that the biscuit industry first developed near ports because they were very popular amongst sailors for their long conservation and nutritional assets. Over 60 companies of all sizes compose the French biscuit industry, employing up to 13 000 people. In 2006 the annual turnover was of 2,2 billion Euros, i.e. 584,000 tons.

Ice cream: a family favorite
In 1651 Francesco dei Coltelli opened the first ice cream café in Paris and the product became so popular that during the next 50 years another 250 ice cafés opened in Paris and ice cream has been a big favorite ever since. Ice cream is a very specific type of frozen food made of both emulsion and mousse. An ice cream's quality is defined by its aspect (presentation, colour), its texture, its taste and its innocuousness (microbiologic and chemical). The French ice cream industry strives to guarantee the best quality possible by respecting:
• The choice of raw materials (dairy products, eggs, sugar, fruit pulp, fruit puree or juice, cocoa, aromas...) which are tasted, analysed and controlled
• The composition of the 'mix'
• The fabrication process which made up of 2 essential phases: pasteurisation of the 'mix' to eliminate bacteria and crystallisation of water during the 'icing' to obtain micro crystals of ice and tiny air bubbles; the ice cream hence obtained will be smooth and soft
• The control of the temperature of ice cream throughout the distribution chain so that it maintains excellent quality up to the point of sale.

En 2004, the Syndicat des Fabricants Industriels de Glaces, Sorbets et Crèmes Glacées, the French ice cream alliance, beat the world record of the largest ice cream bar with 229 tasty flavours!
The ice cream & sorbet market in France represented over 372 million of litres in 2006 for a turnover of 1,7 billion Euros. In 2006 the export of ice cream to the Middle East raised by 33% in value and 23% in volume compared to 2005. The total value was over 13 million Euros and 3,597 tons in 2006. The Middle East is the 7th export country for the French ice cream industry.

About SOPEXA
SOPEXA is specialised in marketing and communications for the French food and beverage industry. SOPEXA acts as a counsellor to the French authorities in terms of promoting French food and agricultural products worldwide. It also conceives and implements communications campaigns on behalf of its clients - French businesses and generic organisations - to promote their 'made in France' food and drink products and brands world-wide.

SOPEXA, Key Figures
• SOPEXA has over 40 years experience in French foods.
• SOPEXA has a fully integrated network established in France and 39 foreign countries covering 90% of French export markets.
• SOPEXA in the Middle East is represented by one office in Dubai and one in Riyadh

For further information, please contact:
Sabrina KAUPP - MAJLIS PR & COMMUNICATIONS

Eric SANTIER - SOPEXA Middle East