2023-09-13 16:22:49
How to deal with inflation as an industrialist? This year, France is experiencing a significant increase in prices, mainly on food products. In order to combat it and limit its effects, the Minister of the Economy Bruno Le Maire received the largest consumer manufacturers in Bercy at the end of August. After this interview, an agreement was reportedly reached. “They have made a first commitment: prices will not increase or will fall” for 5,000 references, Bruno Le Maire then announced on France 2.
For the occasion, Miloud Benaouada, president of Barilla/Harrys France and Western Europe, is the guest of the show France is moving. At Elisabeth Assayag’s microphone, he talks about commercial negotiations, where it is sometimes difficult to find common ground.
Defend this industry
Are negotiations set to change? Do manufacturers have to negotiate more often during the year? “It’s the reality. It’s part of this kind of cacophony, to believe that I don’t answer my clients’ phones and that we see each other once a year. Me, my clients, we see them once a year. month, we call each other every three days,” insists Miloud Benaouada. But what can manufacturers and customers say to each other? “That we have to defend this industry and stop pointing the finger at us,” he emphasizes at Elisabeth Assayag’s microphone.
During the latest negotiations, the Barilla/Harrys group managed to find common ground. At the end of August, on France 2, Bruno Le Maire even cited the pasta brand, emphasizing that it had lowered its prices and that it had “played the game”. “We have a sequence of price relaxations on cereals, which we have reflected in our prices with consumers and customers,” indicates the France boss of Barilla.
A reversed balance of power
However, the balance of power is reversed in the negotiations. “I represent 0.35% of my clients’ turnover. The smallest of my clients represents 20% of my turnover. The balance of power is therefore totally different”, recognizes Miloud Benaouada. For him, it is therefore not possible to hear today that the agri-food industry imposes on mass distribution. “With 0.35% of anyone’s turnover, do you really believe that I am today in a position to impose anything on my clients?” he asks.
Despite everything, the president of Barilla France specifies that he is very proud of the job he does and the work that his colleagues do. He even admits that the best period the company has experienced is that experienced during the health crisis. “Because at that time, we worked together and we had a common interest which was to feed people. And that is the primary mission,” he concludes at Elisabeth Assayag’s microphone.
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