• To try to extinguish the fire of inflation on food products on the eve of the mobilization on pensions, the government launches this Wednesday an "anti-inflation quarter".
  • The commercial operation which, far from imposing on supermarkets an anti-inflation basket led by the government, aims to offer, according to Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire, "the lowest possible price" on a selection of "hundreds" of products.
  • Initially, the project promoted by the Minister Delegate for Trade Olivia Grégoire focused on an "anti-inflation basket" that would have allowed consumers to compare prices between brands, but mass distribution had braked four.

This Wednesday, March 15, begins the "anti-inflation quarter". The objective: to ask supermarkets to put at the "lowest possible price" a selection of "hundreds" of products, had announced in early March the Minister of the Economy Bruno Le Maire. In the face of runaway inflation, with food prices jumping 14.8% year-on-year, this measure replaces the stillborn project of the government's anti-inflation basket.

In which brands is this device set up?

Far from wanting to impose anti-inflation measures on supermarkets, the government has left the choice to retailers. According to the Minister of the Economy, this device will cost "several hundred million euros" to large distribution.

Among the signatories of this non-coercive agreement, we find the main representatives of the sector, such as Carrefour, Intermarché, Système U, Casino or Aldi, with the notable exception of the market share leader, E.Leclerc. The president of the strategic committee of the brand, Michel-Edouard Leclerc criticized on Cnews this selection of products that "gives the impression that we are catching up on the rest".


To protect the French against food inflation, we reached an agreement this morning with large retailers: they are committed to setting up an "anti-inflation quarter", starting this March.

What does this mean? ↓

— Bruno Le Maire (@BrunoLeMaire) March 6, 2023

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Which products are targeted by this "anti-inflation quarter"?

With this agreement, the government indicates that distributors undertake to charge an assortment of products left to their discretion at the "lowest possible price" for consumers.

The choice of the food concerned will be made by the distributors themselves. These products will be identified by a tricolor logo "anti-inflation quarter". According to the distributors, these commercial operations will mainly concern own-brand products, i.e. those such as Reflets de France, Marque Repère, Marque U, are owned by the brands and are not part of the annual negotiations with manufacturers.

The formula, not very engaging, was criticized by the consumer association UFC-Que Choisir. "No regulatory definition" exists in this area, recalled Monday, March 6 on France Blue Olivier Andrault, in charge of agriculture / food of this association.


The French will soon be able to spot the products of the Anti-inflation Quarter behind this logo in the stores of distributors. pic.twitter.com/H4WEymkeq2

— Dominique Schelcher (@schelcher) March 6, 2023

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Until when?

For now, this device is planned to last 100 days, until June 15. Initially, the project promoted by the Minister Delegate for Trade Olivia Grégoire focused on an "anti-inflation basket" that would have allowed consumers to compare prices between brands, but mass distribution had braked four.

In addition, Bruno Le Maire announced in early March "a food voucher for the most modest", Emmanuel Macron's campaign promise that he had already mentioned in December 2020 before the Citizens' Convention for the Climate.

This device, initially supposed to allow the most modest to have access to quality French food products "will be done on a territorial basis, probably the department," he said, ensuring that an "experiment will be launched in the next few months".

Some brands did not wait to launch their own commercial operations, intended to attract or retain their customers in a context where consumers are looking for low prices or promotions.



What does mass distribution gain?

In exchange for this agreement, the distributors obtained from Bercy that at the end of this "anti-inflation quarter", the commercial negotiations with the suppliers of the agro-industry, which ended on March 1, be relaunched.

"We will reopen trade negotiations with major industrialists so that the drop in wholesale prices that we observe on the markets" can "translate" also on the shelves, explained the Minister of the Economy.

The negotiations completed in pain on 1 March led to an average increase of some 10% in the prices paid by supermarkets to manufacturers to take into account the increase in their production costs (energy, transport, raw materials, packaging, etc.), according to both camps.

President of the main employers' organization of the agri-food industry, Ania, Jean-Philippe André immediately warned that manufacturers would only agree to lower their prices after a new round of negotiations if their production costs fall beforehand.

  • Economy
  • Inflation
  • Purchasing power
  • Feeding
  • Bruno Le Maire
  • Crossroads
  • Intermarché
  • Leclerc