The Minister of Economy and Finance proposes to reauthorize reductions of up to 50% on food products to cope with inflation. However, these promotions were until now prohibited by the Egalim law.
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The return of the famous “A product bought for a free”? Big food promotions could soon be back on store shelves. This is one of the proposals announced by the Minister of Economy and Finance, Monday, July 4, to fight against soaring prices. Inflation climbed to 5.8% in June over one year, according to the latest estimates from INSEE.
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Bruno Le Maire therefore wants to come back to part of the Egalim law. Since the end of 2018, the text has indeed prohibited discounts beyond 34% on food products, which therefore only authorized promotions of the type “buy two, the third free” in the food departments of supermarkets. Discounts that exceed this threshold were seen as destructive to farmers and even harmful to consumers. In January 2018, for example, a 70% promotion on Nutella spread caused riots in several supermarkets all over France..
It must be said that, on the subject of purchasing power, the government is expected at the turn: Thursday, it must unveil a package of measures valued at around 25 billion euros, supposed to mitigate the effects of inflation on households . This project has been announced for weeks but suspended for the legislative elections and then for the reshuffle.
“I propose that we raise this threshold to 50% so that there are discounted prices for those who need them”, said the minister, this Monday, on France Inter. Consumer associations are not opposed to this, but they question the realism of such promotions. But already, the response of the producers was heard. For Christiane Lambert, the president of the National Federation of Farmers’ Unions (FNSEA), it is not “not the right answer” to rising prices. The boss of the majority agricultural union is instead asking for a food check so that the most precarious can buy a “basket of essentials”., an idea already put forward by the government.
Food manufacturers are asking for price increases of 8 to 10% to offset their rising costs. Bercy promises to be vigilant and to be intractable in the event of unjustified increases.