A sharp increase in prices is to be expected on supermarket shelves. "It is not March that will be red but the second quarter" of the year, said Thursday on BFM / RMC Michel-Edouard Leclerc. For good reason, the tariffs charged by agri-food suppliers as part of negotiations with large retailers, which will end on March 1, are higher than those in force.

If some specialists speak of a "red March" for the prices on the shelves of supermarkets, for the leader in food distribution, the price increases will "be passed on until July, because it takes four or five months" for them to go down in the shelves of supermarkets. "The new rates apply to new orders, when there is still stock available, it is at the old price," said Michel-Edouard Leclerc.

No "red March" for the government

If prices will not rise suddenly, "consumers will still see a lot of increases," he said, while Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire had said Monday that there was "no reason for there to be a red March".

Michel-Edouard Leclerc denounced, like his colleagues in mass distribution, the "huge increases" demanded by their agro-industrial suppliers, giving as an example the increase in the price of sugar which according to him increased by 22% the previous year and for which a supplier asked for "53.82% more than last year".

As every year, supermarkets and their agribusiness suppliers must agree on the prices and conditions of sale of pasta, steaks or other yogurts, which will then be marketed on the shelves.



Traditionally tense, these negotiations are all the more so this year with the high inflation of many production costs, from packaging to agricultural raw materials, including energy.

Only one in two manufacturers has signed all its contracts with its distributor customers, an unusually low rate a week before the close, said Wednesday the main organization of the agri-food industry.

For Ania, "some distributors will wait until the last minute". The organization also cited "a lot of threats of delisting of products by supermarkets if they do not get the desired prices."

  • Economy
  • Consumption
  • Mass distribution
  • Inflation
  • Food