Rise in the price of meat, no shortage in sight and the impact of consumers who are stocking up… The boss of Leclerc has swept aside certain subjects related to consumption which worry the French.
The moment of shopping weighs more and more heavily on the budget of French people, who have been facing significant price increases for several weeks. This Sunday, April 3, Michel Edouard Leclerc, the boss of the retail brand, was the guest of BFM Politique. The opportunity to take stock of these topics.
Inflation is not (yet) linked to Ukraine
As surprising as it may seem, the inflation we are currently experiencing is not related to the crisis in Ukraine. According to Michel Edouard Leclerc, the gap means that currently, as for the next two months, inflation is “the cause of past events”.
“The war in Ukraine will add another layer this summer if the conflict actually persists, if Ukrainian farmers cannot sow, if the Russians do not export their cereals, then there will be a global crisis, but above all a crisis around the Mediterranean”.
No shortage so far
“Today in France there is no shortage. Sunflower oil currently has been made with sunflower from last season and therefore for the moment we have stocks until June. We have orders for this summer. It does not say if the suppliers will find packaging for the boxes, because there are shortages there. But I do not anticipate a major shortage,” said the boss of the sign.
So why are some products running out of shelves right now? For Michel Edouard Leclerc, the attitude of certain consumers can be a clue.
Some consumers overstock
If the boss of the Leclerc stores therefore does not expect a shortage, he nevertheless qualifies on one point: “Unless consumers trigger it themselves.”
How? ‘Or’ What ? By having an excessive and useless preventive attitude consisting in making stocks. “That’s the problem, we are starting to see consumers in some stores buying too much. They have somewhat forgotten what happened at the start of the Covid, at the time of the first confinement and it is they who cause the non-reassortment of certain rays”he explains.
The price of toilet paper will increase
The opportunity to return to the phenomenon observed during the start of the Covid crisis, when many consumers rushed to toilet paper. Why ? “I don’t know,” admits Michel Edouard Leclerc, who takes the opportunity to launch an announcement that will not reassure those anxious about the lack of PQ.
“The price of PQ will increase considerably, because there is a big paper deficit there,” says the boss. The price of meat will also increase, and the factors of this increase are multiple.
Another increase in sight, that of the price of meat
“Yes, livestock feed will increase, so it will induce a production cost for poultry, red meat or pork. So these meats will increase in proportion to the production cost, that’s for sure. In addition, for poultry, there is a big epidemic of avian flu, so there too, there will be increases”, he predicts in connection with the slaughter of thousands of poultry presenting a health risk.
“All of this will add up and we will go towards an inflation rate in which food will weigh a lot”. Regarding the latter, “here we are at 4.5, I think we will be in the beginning of the summer at 6 and in that, I think there will be an increase in the price of poultry and fairly substantial price of meat.”