2023-08-30 16:58:59
The government is wriggling to try to fight food inflation. The rise in prices of consumer products is running out of steam. It went from 16% at an annual rate before the summer to 13%, but it remains significant. Above all, daily shopping labels have increased by more than 20% in two years. The Ministry of the Economy has asked food manufacturers in recent weeks to take into account the deflation of raw materials. Faced with their reluctance – only a few have adapted their prices – he plans to bring forward the date of the annual trade negotiations.
The bosses of the major distributors were received this Wednesday morning at Bercy: Alexandre Bompard, CEO of Carrefour and president of the Federation of Commerce and Distribution, Thierry Cotillard, president of Intermarché, Michel-Edouard Leclerc, representative of the sign of the same name and Dominique Schelcher, president of Système U.
All have pledged to continue the promotional operations they have been carrying out for more than a year. All also underlined the gap between their response to the war in Ukraine a year ago, when they agreed to quickly revise their purchase price upwards in proportion to the soaring cost of agricultural raw materials, with the lack of general will on the part of manufacturers to return the favor at a time when world prices are falling.
bad publicity
Among the 75 major manufacturers on the French market, only 20 were called upon to renegotiate, those who had not obtained increases of more than 10%. In the end, 50 accepted a few temporary promotions that do not amount to real price reductions.
In these circumstances, Bruno Le Maire, the Minister of the Economy, mentioned the possibility of bringing forward the date of the annual trade negotiations to 2024. According to the law, the annual negotiations begin on November 1 and end on November 1. March of the following year. The negotiated prices come into effect on the shelves two or three months later, which postpones any reductions until June 2024.
The idea would be to start discussions as soon as possible and to complete them as soon as possible. A start in September would allow completion on December 31, 2023. The fact remains that the law is the law and that such a shift requires the agreement of the manufacturers. In case of refusal, the government can slip a binding amendment into a text of law under discussion, but the task is not easy.
The Descrozaille bill, which restricts distributors’ margins of negotiation, was unanimously adopted last March by deputies and senators. The legislative body is proving to be rather pro-industry for the time being.
Bercy receives this Thursday the employers’ unions of the agri-food industry, the National Association of Food Industries (Ania), Ilec, the club of major brands s, the FEEF, the representative of SMEs and the Agricultural Cooperation. They will have to decide on the hypothesis of a progress in the negotiations. The government will put in the balance the possibility of giving bad publicity to the reluctant.
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