In response to the growing concern of industrialists, the Minister of Agriculture, Marc Fesneau, assured this Saturday at the International Food Fair “to guarantee” that the agricultural and agri-food sectors are “priority” in the event of power outages this winter.
During the inauguration of this show in Villepinte (Seine-Saint-Denis), the Minister was questioned on this subject by many industrialists in the dairy sector, concerned about the rise in energy prices and the risk of discharging.
“Milk is not preserved,” warned Emmanuel Besnier, general director of the giant Lactalis, who asked the minister if the government was contemplating exempting the dairy industry from possible cuts.
In the event that the electricity supply is temporarily interrupted this winter, “we have made sure that agriculture and agri-food are among the priority issues”, responded Marc Fesneau during a press conference.
The Minister also hoped that the European discussions scheduled for next week in Prague would provide “visibility”, in particular on a possible decorrelation of gas and electricity prices.
A price increase for the consumer?
After absorbing the high cost of animal feed, the dairy industry now has to deal with energy. Yvan Borgne, director of export sales for the dairy cooperative Laïta, reported that “diesel bills increased by 20%, gas multiplied by four.”
The Minister of Agriculture assured that the State will come to the aid of “energy-intensive agri-food industries” in an attempt to reduce their energy bill.
However, part of these increases, according to him, will be “absorbed by the cost”, that is, they will be transferred to the purchase price of the products by supermarkets and then to the consumer’s basket.
For several months, manufacturers have been fighting with large retailers to obtain these price increases, which, ultimately, also affect breeders’ income.
“The increases we have approved are around 15-20%, but we will have to double them again next year,” warned Mr. Borgne, stressing the difficult compromise between low prices for consumers and fair remuneration for farmers.
In addition, Marc Fesneau lashed out at the “zeal” of distributors for imposing logistical penalties on their suppliers in the event of late delivery. He felt that the legislator might have to intervene if the abuses became too numerous.
Source: BFM TV
