2023-05-10 13:13:04
The anti-inflation quarter, set to music by Bercy since mid-March, could well turn into an anti-inflation semester, with corseted prices on the shelves at least until mid-September, and new products concerned, like back-to-school supplies. This is what the government wants, on the eve of a strategic meeting to be held in Bercy, during which the Minister of the Economy, Bruno Le Maire and Olivia Grégoire, the Minister Delegate for Trade, will receive the distributors larger ones (Carrefour, Leclerc, Intermarché, Système U and Casino).
An important meeting as inflation on consumer goods – which still reached 16.2% in April, according to the Circana Institute – continues to strain the wallets of consumers. Last week, Bruno Le Maire had already indicated his intention to extend “beyond June 15” the anti-inflation quarter, this operation in the context of which supermarkets undertake to sell a selection of products at “the lowest price lowest possible”, each brand being free to choose the articles concerned.
Nearly two months after the launch of this device spurred on by Bercy, the observation made by Olivia Grégoire is clear: this operation is effective. Over the seven weeks studied, “the prices of the items contained in these baskets have fallen by 13%”, she underlined this Wednesday morning at the microphone of RTL, based on figures from the Directorate General for Competition, of consumption, and the repression of fraud (DGCRF).
Industrialists in the sights of the government
This device also made it possible, according to her, to “raise the volumes on a certain number of fresh products, which were in the process of collapsing”, such as meat, fruits, vegetables and fish. Hence the idea of going even further. “I will propose to them tomorrow (to distributors) to include products for the start of the school year for our children”, added the Minister, recalling that “three quarters of French people” do their back-to-school shopping in supermarkets.
Admittedly, since March, we have asked “distributors to make efforts, but these efforts are proportionate to their results, we have not pressured them too much either”, argues those around him at Bercy, where it is emphasized that we will also now have to convince industrialists to make an effort “also” on a much more complex subject. “If some major manufacturers do not make an effort, we will Name and shame ! We will tell the French which brands do not want to negotiate downwards, ”threatened the minister on RTL this Wednesday morning.
The anti-inflation quarter remains criticized by the main consumer associations – UFC-Que Choisir, Consumption Housing in the Living Environment (CLCV) and Rural Families – for whom the government is only “relying on goodwill mass distribution so that it limits its margins (or claims to do so through purely marketing operations)”. They were campaigning for a larger scale system.
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