The main brands reveal the price reductions obtained from manufacturers and warn of the risks of the agricultural emergency bill for purchasing power.
Several major retail brands (Auchan, Carrefour, Coopérative U, E.Leclerc and Intermarché) and the Federation of Commerce and Distribution (FCD) launched, Monday June 22, a “transparency” operation on the construction of product prices. This initiative aims to inform consumers, but above all to convince parliamentarians, who are currently examining the emergency bill for agricultural protection and sovereignty, of the essential role they play in defending consumers’ purchasing power and the fight against inflation when they negotiate their annual contracts with their suppliers.
The operation comes as this bill was passed by the National Assembly and will be examined on June 29 in a session in the Senate. The text, which intends to modify the rules of commercial negotiations between manufacturers and distributors, raises serious concerns in the sector.
Price comparison and the role of distribution
With the Deloitte firm, they compared the average prices charged over five years by suppliers for a basket of 12 products from major international brands most purchased by consumers (Nutella, Coca-Cola, Amora, Granola, etc.) – sold without interruption in the five brands since 2021 – and their prices on the shelves.
This basket is made without any French agricultural raw materials. “The large multinationals wanted to sell it for 71.49 euros to consumers, Alexandre Bompard, CEO of Carrefour, said on Monday during a press conference at the FCD. After hours of discussions and thousands of pages of contracts, thanks to the sole action of distribution, this same basket is finally offered to consumers at 52.12 euros. Between these two figures, there is our business. There is our ability to say no to price increases that do not seem to us justified. There are, quite simply, 20 euros remaining in the pockets of the French.
To hear them say, without them, the French would have paid 700 euros more per year since 2021, taking into account the frequency of purchasing these products.
Representatives of mass distribution also denounce the “astronomical” price increases requested by manufacturers since 2021. Thierry Cotillard, president of the Groupement Mousquetaires, cited particularly marked price increases: “159% on Carte Noire coffee, 127% on Petit Ecolier de LU biscuits and 112% on Granola, 78% on Nutella…”. According to him, “when SMEs ask for a 4% increase, it’s 8% for the big brands”.
This operation takes place in a context of mistrust between large retailers and public authorities. According to the report of the commission of inquiry on “the margins of manufacturers and mass distribution”, published on May 21, 40% of the food value would go to distribution and services, when, according to the FCD, distribution only generates 9%. Alexandre Bompard estimated: “We have reached the limits of the unbearable and the absurd.”
Concerns about the agricultural emergency bill
Large retailers fear, due to article 19 of the text voted by the National Assembly but also new amendments from the Senate, a new turn of the screw in the rules of annual commercial negotiations which would favor large industrialists. Among the feared measures is the obligation to declare any drop in orders, under penalty of a fine of 375,000 euros, currently provided for in the text, specified Philippe Michaud, executive president of the E.Leclerc movement.
Distributors warn of the consequences of such provisions: “All provisions that prevent our ability to negotiate will impoverish the French.”
