Negotiations between manufacturers and supermarkets: price increase of “around 10%” in perspective

The prices paid by distributors to agro-industrialists should increase “around 10%” after the trade negotiations that will end on Wednesday, the director general of the Trade and Distribution Federation, Jacques Creyssel, said on Tuesday.

“We should be with the big brands around a 10% increase since the beginning of March,” Jacques Creyssel told Franceinfo, explaining that the negotiations “have ended for SMEs, for all the brands that are largely French.”

However, the distribution representative indicated that “the big brands (…) seek to impose a tie with totally unjustified proposals for increases of 15-16%.”

Negotiations “extremely tense”

Increases “impossible to accept in such a difficult period in terms of purchasing power”, according to the distribution representative, who called on these brands to “participate in collective efforts”, citing Nestlé, Coca, Unilever and Procter & Gamble.

“Retailers [de la distribution, NDLR] Naturally, these increases will have to be passed on”, estimated Jacques Creyssel, however, assuring that “they will do so responsibly, trying to limit the increases for consumers as much as possible”.

The negotiations are “extremely tense”, the spokesman for Lactalis, Christophe Piednoël, estimated for his part on Radio Classique, who “signed with two of the main distribution chains out of five”.

The dairy giant is asking for an increase of between 9% and 15%, the “starting point” that “is first used to remunerate the price of milk” paid to farmers and “corresponds to the increase in our charges,” according to Christophe. Christmas foot.

“Everybody has to make an effort in a negotiation, some distributors have done it, others seem less prepared to do it,” he added, without naming any distributors.

Faced with inflation, Emmanuel Macron called on supermarkets on Monday to “participate in the effort.”

For their part, supermarkets denounce the lack of transparency and the exaggerated requests for increases, going so far as to describe the boss of Carrefour Alexandre Bompard as “delusional” to some of them.

Having entered their home stretch, the negotiations (which concern products sold under so-called “national” brands, such as Danone or Fleury Michon) should once again last until the last minute (set at midnight on Wednesday night).