According to some players in the retail and food industry, their last night in February was interrupted by only a few hours of sleep. They had to close the annual trade negotiations before March 1 at midnight, and many files were still waiting to reach an agreement.
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It is these negotiations that set the evolution of the prices of food and consumer products on store shelves, and the contracts signed show increases that have not been achieved for many years.
Egalim 2
According to Jacques Creyssel, the general delegate of the Federation of Commerce and Distribution (FCD), the labels should take around 3% on average. “Inflation for the French will be significant this year”, pointed out the president of System U, Dominique Schelcher. A manager of a distribution brand mentions the figure of 4%. « Attention, he specifies. This is only an average, while a store can offer tens of thousands of references. »
According to Olivier Dauvers, publisher and retail specialist, these usually difficult negotiations took place this year in an even more tense climate. “For the first time, they had to take into account the contributions of the Egalim 2 law, which requires distributors and manufacturers not to be able to negotiate the prices paid to farmers, he said. As a result, distributors are negotiating hard on their other production costs in a context that had already been inflationary for several months. »
Revision clauses
Still, the signs of large distribution and their suppliers should meet around a table. “In the contracts that have been signed, there are review clauses which stipulate that if the increase in production costs reaches a certain point, also negotiated between the parties, the protagonists can discuss again”, recalls Olivier Dauvers. It is probable that, in the event of a stalemate in the Ukrainian crisis, this will be the case.
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This increase in consumer products could, in any case, put the question of the purchasing power of the French at the heart of the political debate.