Nevertheless, almost half of the French food companies are small and middle enterprises (SMEs) (less than 50 employees). The general trend in Europe is that Food companies are bigger in the Northern countries and smaller in Southern countries and especially in Italy (Lienhardt, 2004). This characteristic could be an advantage for the preservation of traditional products and for the reactivity to the consumer demand.
Some requirements concerning food quality, food safety and for healthier food have been taken into account since the 80’s–90’s. In the 30’s, food represented 25% of a house- hold income, nowadays it is about 15–18%. The modern consumer is used to buy low cost food products but does not accept to be put at risk. Food safety became during the 90’s a key factor for food manufacturing as shown by the creation of the European Food Safety Authority.