Some ask to be able to pass on the increase in production costs to prices, others want to limit the soaring price of products sold in supermarkets. Example with the dairy sector whose main players meet at the Agricultural Show.
What will be the price of our races in March? This is the whole point of the commercial negotiations between distributors and manufacturers, which must be completed in less than 48 hours. The two parties have until Wednesday, March 1 at midnight to agree on the prices of products sold in supermarkets in a context of high inflation. And while the negotiators are busy behind the scenes, each side defends its colors on the stage of the Agricultural Show, which is held from February 25 to March 5.
The rising cost of energy “is everywhere”
Like the Fermiers de Loué, poultry farmers are faced with rising production costs. That of the egg, for example, has increased by 40% in one year. This is primarily due to the rise in cereal prices since the start of the war in Ukraine, explains Yves de la Fouchardière, the director, but also by the rise in the cost of energy: “We have new contracts that are more expensive, heating chicks is energy. Cooling a truck transporting eggs is energy. Energy is everywhere.”
“On the breeders’ side, not passing on prices when you have between 1 and 2% margin, anyway, is disappearing.”
Yves de la Fouchardière, director of Les Fermiers de Louéat franceinfo
The only solution, according to the breeders, is to pass on these increases to the prices offered to supermarkets that buy their products, Auchan, Leclerc or Carrefour. But some distributors accuse suppliers of wanting to push prices as high as possible. This is the case of the Lactalis group, which is asking supermarkets to accept an increase in the purchase price of + 9 to + 15%.
“These accusations are completely unacceptable. reacts Christophe Piednoël, general manager of communication at Lactalis. It is not me who says it, it is the General Inspectorate of Finance which made a report and which wrote in black and white that the agri-food industries were passing on the charges which were real.
“Two years ago, it was 300 million euros, our energy bill. This year, it will be 1.100 billion euros.”
Christophe Piednoël, communication director of Lactalisat franceinfo
“We have done times four on energy, we have done times six on certain packaging items, he continues. And above all, the item that has increased the most is milk. So it is all these costs today that we are negotiating with large retailers.
An increase of 10% on average on the shelves
This year, negotiations are particularly difficult between manufacturers and supermarkets, adds Christophe Piednoël: “The negotiations are very, very tense. To give you an example, at Lactalis, we have five major distributors and a few hours from the end of the closing, we have only signed two of them.” In the event that the negotiations do not succeed, it would then be necessary to go through a mediator. Unheard of, according to the communication director of Lactalis who nevertheless ensures that the objective remains of course to find an agreement.
For consumers, this taking into account of the increase in production costs would lead to an average increase of 10% in food prices in March, according to several experts. The price increase could even continue until the summer.