"We steal meat, we steal fresh packaged fish. That's new, we didn't do it two, three years ago." Invited on the set of RMC Thursday, the president of the group "The Musketeers" explained to Apolline de Malherbe that shoplifting had increased sharply in recent months. The report drawn up by Thierry Cotillard is in line with the figures revealed by the Ministry of the Interior, i.e. a 14% increase in shoplifting in 2022. An increase that corresponds to that of food prices: + 13.3% in one year.


🎙 "We steal meat and some fish, it's new."

Thierry Cotillard, president of the group "Les Mousquetaires", in the #FaceAFace pic.twitter.com/TxECqa5MWk

— RMC (@RMCInfo) March 9, 2023

Access to this content has been blocked in order to respect your choice of consent

By clicking on "I ACCEPT", you accept the deposit of cookies by external services and will thus have access to the content of our partners

I AGREE

And to better pay 20 Minutes, do not hesitate to accept all cookies, even for one day only, via our button "I accept for today" in the banner below.

More information on the Cookie Policy page.



With inflation, it is precisely food that is most targeted by theft. And especially those that cost the most to the consumer, and to the supermarket. The boss of Intermarché brands specifies on RMC that his supermarkets have had to review the schedules of the guards, in order to multiply the presence of security agents. "There have always been thefts, but not in this proportion," admits Thierry Cotillard.

Flying to survive

Our colleagues from RTL went to meet these French people forced to steal products from supermarkets to survive. In particular, they interviewed a couple with a 6-month-old baby, who works part-time and lives on only 1,000 euros a month. These parents admit to stealing some food to get by, not without shame.

Not all brands are necessarily seeing an increase in food theft. Questioned on the subject on March 3 by Francetvinfo, Michel-Édouard Leclerc assured that the phenomenon was not a problem in his stores. "There have always been acts of incivility. But it doesn't come up as a topic. It's marginal in French society," said the big boss.

Amicable management

According to the law, shoplifting can be punished by 3 years imprisonment and a fine of 45,000 euros. But as security guards and managers confide to RTL, most cases are settled amicably. Security guards find that many customers act out of desperation.



This puts into perspective the objectives of mass distribution in this period of high inflation. "It's not about making eating better accessible, it's about being able to eat. This is a situation that worries us, "concludes Thierry Cotillard on RMC.

  • Society
  • Intermarché
  • Supermarket
  • Feeding
  • Theft
  • Inflation