2023-05-17 18:59:14
In a context of still very high inflation, the main players in the agri-food industry agreed on Wednesday to reopen negotiations with distributors early. The talks must resume before the end of the month with a view to lowering the price of products on the shelves this summer.
“This is the first good news, but the real good news will be the day when prices go down. There the commitment is to negotiate”, reacted Wednesday, May 17 on franceinfo Jacques Creyssel, general delegate of the Federation of commerce and distribution (FCD). The 75 largest French food manufacturers have indeed agreed to reopen negotiations with supermarkets before the end of May in the hope of lowering high prices on the shelves. “There may be quite significant cuts that go much deeper than what was done for the anti-inflation quarter,” believes Jacques Creyssel.
franceinfo: Is the announcement of the reopening of negotiations good news?
Jacques Creyssel: Of course, this is the first good news, but the real good news will be the day when prices will fall. There the commitment is to negotiate. Unfortunately, it took our pressure, that of the President of the Republic, of the Minister of the Economy and Finance to achieve this result, but things are there, it is a good evolution of the file. Everyone has to work and very quickly we manage to lower a certain number of prices because it is essential to break this inflationary spiral. These negotiations concern national brands, major brands that make up 80% of the market. We are on products for which there may be quite significant cuts that go much further than what was done for the anti-inflation quarter.
These negotiations, you fear that it will be a gas plant?
We don’t have to argue regarding everything. Perhaps we should put all this in writing in the form of a charter so that things are very clear. The reality is that there are prices which have increased significantly over the past year and there is a series of raw materials which have fallen sharply, cereals, oils, coffee, all the products which require a lot of transport, while freight has dropped a lot. All these products must be able to drop very quickly. Negotiations must open by the end of May, it must be able to go fairly quickly and result in the implementation of these price reductions this summer. All the brands are ready to pass on as quickly as possible in the sale prices, all the purchase price reductions that have been granted.
What is your state of mind ? Are you confident in this negotiation process?
We will be careful, we will be demanding and if we ever see in a few weeks that nothing is happening, we will once more have to exert pressure, denounce and if necessary ensure that the public authorities take regulatory measures to oblige the manufacturers to move towards this price reduction. If this is not the case, it is because they are earning margins. When you increase your prices on the one hand and the costs decrease, it is because you are unduly increasing your margins to the detriment of the French. If we want to break inflation at the start of the school year, there absolutely must be significant price cuts. Raw materials have dropped a lot, there is no reason why there should not be a significant drop in pasta, for example.
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