The food industry, also known as the agri-food industry (AFI), encompasses all industrial activities involved in transforming agricultural, livestock, or fishing raw materials into food products primarily intended for human consumption. 

In France, the food industry holds a prominent position as the 5th largest food industry in the world and the leading industrial sector in the country. Its strength lies in its ability to combine significant meat processing activity (24% of total production) with dairy product manufacturing (19%). 

With 17,000 companies, players in the agri-food sector represent 15.3% of French manufacturing industries. 

It is also worth noting that the food industry ranks fourth in terms of greenhouse gas emissions within the French industrial sector.