“French law is binding and imposes a deadline: a distributor does not respect this deadline.” Invited to the set of BFM Business, Richard Panquiault, CEO of Ilec, returned to address the commercial negotiations between large retailers and manufacturers.
According to him, the advancement of the negotiation calendar – which normally ends in March – has “increased tensions” between the two interested parties. “Instead of having three months of negotiations, we only had six or eight weeks,” he lamented.
Especially since the general director of Ilec believes that he was not helped by the fact that “a certain number of distributors decided that we were no longer trading in France but in Spain, in the Netherlands”, due to purchasing centers located abroad. . “This creates additional difficulties because for the first time he is negotiating with people he did not know the week before,” he added.
Go further”
While the government pushes for manufacturers to be more transparent within the framework of the Egalim law, Richard Panquiault believes it is necessary to go “further.” However, he assured that the negotiations carried out by certain distributors abroad fostered distrust on the part of suppliers.
E. Leclerc, ugly duckling
“Système U and Carrefour, which respectively apply Dutch and Spanish legislation, have made efforts to respect the deadline,” he stressed. Although he now hopes that the Egalim law will be respected, Richard Panquiault welcomes the efforts made by distributors.
According to him, the troublemaker’s name is Leclerc. “He (the distributor, editor’s note) tells us ‘I apply Belgian law’ and he does it. Today we have many agreements that are not signed because Leclerc applies Belgian law,” he whispers.
It should be remembered that the annual negotiations were brought forward this year by the government, which hoped that the reductions in wholesale prices of certain foods would be reflected more quickly on the shelves.
Source: BFM TV
