Consumers are demanding quality products and are increasingly turning to local products and currently Made in France contributes to more than 38,000 jobs and generates a turnover of 7.2 billion euros annually.
If you too, as a customer, want to consume more responsibly and locally, then many companies now meet your expectations.
But what is Made in France?
When we talk about “Made in France”, we are talking about the country in which a product or service is manufactured.
This mention, which has become a label, is experiencing considerable growth, because consumers now tend to favor what is produced locally.
This requirement comes in response to a crisis of consumer confidence regarding the origin of certain products. More and more French companies have therefore chosen to emphasize or develop local production.
Also note that in parallel with the quality demanded by customers, Made in France promotes French artisanal and industrial know-how.
A real economic opportunity
French production has the merit of revitalizing the job market and therefore facilitating economic recovery.
It is essentially for financial reasons (less expensive labor and lower taxes) that companies have frequently relocated their production services, thus creating unemployment for many employees in France.
Following the tragedy that occurred in 2013 in Bangladesh in a textile manufacturing workshop of several international fashion brands, causing the death of a good number of workers and thousands of injuries, consumers became aware of the excesses of fast fashion and of its operation.
From now on, they are questioning more about the manufacturing conditions of the products they buy, but also about the ethical and ecological aspect of the brands.
Why consume local?
Made in France clothing is popular with the population. When questioning consumers, they talk about wanting to support the national economy.
The reasons are multiple and consistent:
- participate in the economic growth of the country
- ecology using short circuits
- transmission of know-how
By buying French, you have the guarantee that your merchandise was not produced by underpaid workers and in obscure conditions.
Consumption made in France highlights industrialists, SMEs or craftsmen who make the economy work on their scale and who, on the other hand, must face globalization and competition, particularly from Asian countries.
Made In France also attracts young people, who are increasingly aware of environmental issues, like HEC Paris students who have a strong opinion on the subject.
Indeed, as part of the election of the next BDE, the students of the Gbonon list chose this campaign theme and thus solicited companies with this value to become partners in their campaign.
- What does the notion of Made In France represent for you?
"For us, students at HEC, the concept of Made in France is above all the recognition of a company's commitment to producing value, products and jobs locally. It is then thanks to this recognition of supporting these companies and the French economic and social fabric and thus showing solidarity towards the producers, the companies which choose a local establishment and a beneficial development for the French economy. Finally, it is also for us an undeniable guarantee of quality, and therefore also a source of pride, which we can therefore, thanks to our partnerships, attach to our campaign image."
- Why did you choose this theme for your campaign?
" Campaigns for the Student Office (BDE) in major schools are largely based on the partnerships established between the students leading the campaign and the companies which support them in exchange for promotion. It seemed more relevant to us to try to give more meaning to these partnerships which are at the heart of our campaign by choosing a theme which would allow us to emphasize the quality, or the beneficial impact of the products or services of our partners. Made In France then appeared to us. as the most judicious theme from this point of view, seen as a commitment to the quality of the products and services of our partners but also and above all for their beneficial consequences for the local economy, to support jobs and French dynamism and premises.
On a very international campus with many foreign students, it is also about promoting a “France brand” which still has a strong symbolic meaning, particularly outside France, and can capture the imagination. For us to choose this theme was also to highlight the know-how of our country in this very international context."
- Is there a desire on your part to make your classmates aware of the importance of consuming local?
"Yes indeed. We wanted to raise awareness through promotion during our local products campaign in particular. Through our partnerships, we aim to highlight to our comrades the beneficial qualities of local consumption, both for them as consumers, but also for the producers and thus also make the act of consumption an act of support, of solidarity towards these local producers."
- If yes, why ?
"Beyond the first practical reasons which explain this desire, it was for us a way to differentiate ourselves from a more traditional campaign thanks to a subject which is totally anchored in current issues, both economic and environmental through example, the environmental requirement is also one of the reasons which explains the general orientation of our campaign in favor of local consumption, a requirement which is first of all part of our values but which also has an important echo. of our comrades.
When it comes to commitment to local, the pandemic has accelerated things. Confinement has disrupted everyone's consumption patterns, in fact after coming out of common isolation, the French were keen to change their habits.
A Cetelem study linked to the coronavirus, carried out in March, April and June 2020, estimates that 58% of respondents declared “choosing more responsible consumption and 73% questioned their pace of consumption, calling into question certain needs “. In fact, 47% have increased their purchases of organic products and 76% want to highlight products of French origin.
They aspire to consume less, but better and above all local. We can say that “made in France” seems to be the big winner during these periods of confinement.
This period of confinement has accelerated the organic phenomenon and the strong interest of the French in local, healthy and quality production, significant trends in consumption habits in recent years, concludes Pascal Ansart. Brands and distributors are therefore encouraged to work on the transparency of the composition of their products and the relocation of their supply. Beyond that, the brands that will best succeed will be those that will strengthen their social and societal role."
After this pandemic, the French want to promote more local and more ethical consumption.