2023-05-16 08:21:24
On the industrial side, “there is no movement in the direction of reopening negotiations,” criticizes Dominique Schelcher, who wrote to 300 companies.
On the industrial side, it is radio silence or refusal. System U boss Dominique Schelcher, like his colleagues, denounced on Monday morning the lack of response from major agrifood groups to repeated invitations from distributors and the government to re-discuss food prices. At the negotiating table, one of the stakeholders is missing.
“There is no movement”
For several months now, food prices have been exploding, forcing many French people to restrict themselves. Just last month, fresh produce rose by more than 10% over one year, while the price of other foods increased by almost 16%. To try to counter this galloping inflation, the government has set up an anti-inflation quarter, which will extend beyond three months, and supports the return of discussions between distributors and manufacturers. But there is a catch: manufacturers are reluctant.
“At Système U, we have written to 300 companies” and “there is no movement,” explains Dominique Schelcher at the microphone of BFMTV.
“As we speak this morning, despite the letter from the ministers, despite our invitation, despite all the debates that have taken place in recent days, there is no movement in the direction of a reopening of negotiations,” he continues.
No movement towards the discussion table but some movements in the opposite direction according to Dominique Schelcher who says he has received 7 or 8 letters from industrialists who let him know that they would not renegotiate prices this year.
Last year, manufacturers were in a hurry to renegotiate with Système U
A paradoxical situation for the boss of System U who remembers the eagerness of large food companies to contact System U last year to discuss prices once more. But at the time, it was a question of increasing them, he specifies.
“Last year, we had the same call from March 1 to reopen negotiations and we had hundreds of requests,” he said. “Why? Because commodity prices were rising.”
Today, commodities and many other commodities are trading lower, which would justify revising the price lower, he explains.
But manufacturers have no obligation to re-discuss prices that were set, with difficulty, at the start of the year. France is also a European exception because in all the other countries of the bloc, negotiations take place several times a year, thus allowing greater flexibility.
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