Snail Market

The Consumption of Snail

The exact amount of snail meat consumed internationally cannot be accurately estimated due to the fact percentages of self-consumption are incredibly high. However, approximately 450,000-500,000 tonnes of snail are produced for commercial use globally.

Snail farms contribute roughly 13-15% of total snail production. The remainder of production is provided through tradition harvesting of snails. Out of the total production of snail, 47% are frozen, 23.5% are canned and 29.5% are sold as fresh snails.

The most dominating snail markets are found in European countries, especially in Spain, Italy and France. Nonetheless, the size of each market cannot be calculated accurately due to the fact there aren’t official documents or data to be used in order to determine the size. All the data gathered from a diverse range of resources, like snail farming organisations, snail industry institutes, agricultural centres, universities and local snail farming organisations, all supply dissimilar estimations.

Based on the data received by the various resources mentioned above it is estimated that that the French snail market consumes approximately 40 tonnes per year, the Italian snail market consumes 38 tonnes per year and the Spanish snail market consumes 20 tonnes per year.  

It is worth mentioning that all three dominating European snail markets lack in supply. France imports 80% of its snail consumption, whereas Italy imports 65% and Spain imports 55% respectively.

Due to the fact countries like the USA, China, Japan and Germany are increasingly incorporating Italia and French cuisine; smaller European snail markets like Belgium, Switzerland and Portugal are developing snail markets of their own.

The Future of Snail Production

The demand for snails is steadily increasing on an international level. Consequently, it is estimated that the USA, Chinese, Japanese and Northern European snail markets, will grow considerably in the next through years.

The reason the snail industry is gaining popularity is because more and more countries are incorporating the French and Italian cuisine. The elite society considers the consumption of snails as a sign of social status.

Furthermore, another reason snail consumption is increasingly growing is because snails are part of the Mediterranean diet which is internationally promoted as the healthiest diet.

The fact the elite and wealthy society consume snails so as to separate themselves from low social ranks and show their appreciation towards gourmet delicacies and overall people’s increased interest to follow healthy diets are the factors that led to the growth of the snail market.