Bruno Le Maire and Olivia Grégoire will ask distributors to extend the “anti-inflation quarter”, by including school supplies.
By
Julien Da Sois
And Olivia Detroyat
Posted update
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Rapidly lowering shelf prices is one of the government’s main objectives today, in the face of food inflation that remains at record highs (14.9% in April over one year, according to INSEE). To achieve this, the executive relies heavily on distributors, whose representatives are invited to Bercy this Thursday at midday.
Welcomed by Bruno Le Maire and Olivia Grégoire, the heavyweights of mass distribution will once again be asked to make efforts to relieve the portfolio of the French. On the one hand, an extension of the “anti-inflation quarterwill be put on the table. The Minister of the Economy and his colleague from Commerce, satisfied with the results of this system put in place in supermarkets since March and which must be spread out until mid-June, will question the brands to find out if it is “possible to extend” the measure “covering the summer period“Said Olivia Grégoire on Wednesday on RTL. “We have to find a way to extend this operation in one form or another.“, abounded Bruno Le Maire this Thursday morning during a trip to Essonne.
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Invited to Franceinfo this Thursday morning, the president of the Mousquetaires Thierry Cotillard indicated that the distributors were going to “put a conditionto the extension of this operation. “We have made efforts on our margins, we want manufacturers to also participate in this effort to lower prices“said the boss of the Intermarché and Netto brands.
School supplies in the “anti-inflation quarter”?
Distributors will also be asked this Thursday to “integrate products for the back-to-school of our childrento this device, said Olivia Grégoire on Wednesday, recalling that the “three quarters of the Frenchwere doing their back-to-school shopping in supermarkets. “Inflation on these back-to-school products is much lower. We bought them a year ago, it’s around 4 to 5%, or even 3% depending on the references“, was content to point Thierry Cotillard on Franceinfo.
On the other hand, the government will take advantage of this meeting this Thursday to discuss again the reopening of trade negotiations between distributors and manufacturers, demanded for several weeks in the face of the fall in the prices of certain raw materials (wheat, coffee, oil, etc.). “Now that the prices of maritime freight have been divided by ten, from 15,000 euros to 1,500 euros per container, that the prices of wheat are falling, it is just as legitimate that the prices of food products also fall“, judged Bruno Le Maire in an interview with The gallery published this Thursday.
Distributors are in favor of it, but manufacturers are less so. They “play dead», lamented Monday on RTL Michel Biero, Executive Purchasing Director at Lidl. “The interest of seeing Bruno Le Maire is to see if we can put in place something a little more restrictive“, Estimated on Franceinfo his colleague Thierry Cotillard, claiming a”charterwhich would force manufacturers to renegotiate downwards with distributors.
Manufacturers will also be invited to Bercy, but “in a second time“, on a date which is not yet defined, according to the Ministry of the Economy. Even before this meeting, the executive increased the pressure on them, Olivia Grégoire threatening Wednesday on RTL to do “du ‘name and shame‘we will publicly quote the brands that do not want to negotiate downwards“. Bruno Le Maire meanwhile waved the tax threat. “If the big agri-food manufacturers ever refuse to enter into this negotiation, we will use all the instruments at our disposal, including the tax instrument, to recover the margins which would be undue margins made on the backs of consumers.“, declared the minister this Thursday morning.
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” READ ALSO – Bercy is looking for a parade against inflation on the shelves
Argument War on Inflation Profiteers
Many suppliers certainly recognize the marked easing of agricultural prices in recent weeks. But many, who have bought their agricultural inputs for the year or hedged to cushion price variations, believe that they have not yet seen the effects of this drop in prices on their production costs. Ditto on their energy bill, which remains for some well above what it was before the crisis. Like at Lactalis, which regularly highlights an energy bill that doubles between 2022 and 2023.
In this tense atmosphere, the war of arguments on inflation profiteers continues to rage. The National Association of Food Industries (Ania) thus recalls that according to the latest report from the General Inspectorate of Finance (IGF), distributors have seen their gross operating surplus increase by 9% compared to its level before crisis of 2019, against a stability of that of the agri-food industry. “The sector has not increased its margin in 2022 and the price increase is 85% explained by that of inputs“, adds the report of the IGF. The only satisfaction: the gross surplus of farmers jumped by 27%, in accordance with the objectives of the Egalim 1 and 2 laws. The gallery, Bruno Le Maire said he had “asked the General Inspectorate of Finance (IGF) to update their study on the margins of distributors and large manufacturers“.
As a result, despite Bercy’s threats, manufacturers believe that the criteria for price renegotiation clauses have not yet been reached. Enough to postpone the opening of renegotiations and the prospect of the first price cuts in the summer.