tableware regains color

The tableware sector is recovering. The surge in energy prices, with the war in Ukraine, has had an impact on production, but the 2023 figures remain encouraging.

The Francavenir professional committee observed an increase of 3% in an annual report sent Monday May 13 to AFP. This is the increase recorded by sales of crockery, cutlery and other items, a bit as if the art of the table, so dear to France to accompany its culinary art, warded off the fate of recent complicated years. Between everyday plates, knives and forks, but also goldwork, porcelain or earthenware tableware, the total amount of sales in France reaches one billion one hundred million euros.

Most purchases are now made through non-specialized trade. For everyday tableware, there are a lot of purchases in discount brands and decoration or furniture stores, not to mention distance selling which is particularly promising. But the results are more mixed on the supplier side. Tableware in France employs nearly 7,600 jobs and the workforce has decreased by 7% over one year.

Glassworks in difficulty

One item has dragged down the entire sector, that of glassmaking, hit hard by the level of energy costs. Working glass and crystal requires energy-intensive furnaces and last year, before the drop in gas and electricity prices, the glassworks saw its turnover decline by 20%. We remember the sad symbol of these difficulties of an entire sector with the famous Duralex glassworks placed, at the end of April 2024, once again in receivership.

Our exports are driven by luxury, in particular sales to five-star hotels wherever there are in the world, establishments fond of our porcelain and silverware. They recorded more than a billion euros in value for the second consecutive year, the main export markets being the United Kingdom and the United States.