“It must not come to this”: the representative of the industrialists reacts to the threat of “name and shame” from the Government

The government gives an ultimatum to the industrialists. This Wednesday, Olivia Grégoire threatened on RTL to publicly summon the big brands that would refuse to reopen trade negotiations in the coming weeks to lower prices on the shelves. “We must not come to this”, reacted to BFM Business Jean-Philippe André, president of the National Association of Food Industries (Ania).

“These companies do not deserve it. We are responsible. Each company is free to do what it wants. But Olivia Grégoire is in her role. We can understand it,” added Jean-Philippe André. But “I’m not sure that doing ‘name and shame’ will do anything to improve public debate.”

According to him, it is “normal” that members of the government “put pressure” on manufacturers in this period of inflation. But “you have to stay calm”, he continues, assuring that the brands would reopen the negotiations “case by case” but that this cannot be done “overnight”.