Agri-food, mass distribution: Macron reminded of his promise of an “agreement on the moderation of margins”

Four important consumer associations reminded Emmanuel Macron of his promise of an “agreement on the moderation of margins” in the agri-food industry and mass distribution, Wednesday in an open letter denouncing the “opaque profits” of companies in the context of strong food price inflation.

The consumer defense associations Foodwatch, Familles Rurales, UFC-Que Choisir and Consommation Logement Cadre de Vie (CLCV) asked Emmanuel Macron to “shed light on the construction of food prices”, also calling for “an end to as quickly as possible to excessive margins, which are devastating both for consumers and for our producers. “On the one hand, millions of people face food insecurity in France,” they explain in a joint press release published Wednesday, while prices in supermarkets have increased by more than 20% in two years. “On the other hand, some are taking advantage of the crisis,” they accuse, estimating that “the margin of the agri-food industry has reached a historic level” while that of mass distribution “has also increased on certain premium shelves. need". All “in a climate of unacceptable opacity on the construction of prices”.

They ask the authorities to make “total and immediate transparency on the net margins by product” that “the giants of the agri-food industry and mass distribution” achieve. They also “demand” “concrete measures to make excessive margins on essential, healthy and sustainable food products impossible”, and the “removal of the guaranteed minimum margin of 10% for large-scale distribution (loss resale threshold) ". This framework for the “loss resale threshold” (SRP) was adopted as part of the Egalim 1 law which was supposed to protect farmers’ income. It requires supermarkets to sell food products at least 10% more than the price at which they purchased them. But according to parliamentary evaluation work, the measure “seems to have only very partially achieved its objective” of increasing the remuneration of agricultural producers.

Emmanuel Macron announced at the end of September that he wanted to find with large industrialists "an agreement on the moderation of margins in the sector" with "controllers who will carry out checks", and his Minister of the Economy Bruno Le Maire had specified a few days later later that the government would ensure that industrial margins remained “reasonable”.