Carrefour “vigorously contests” criticism from the Ministry of the Economy on its franchise model

Does Carrefour impose too unbalanced a relationship on its franchisees? The distributor “contests vigorously”, in a press release published Tuesday June 18, “the grievances of the Ministry of the Economy relating to the management of its franchise network”. Bercy believes that Carrefour’s methods are “characteristics of restrictive competition practices”according to a document revealed by the media La Lettre and consulted by AFP.

The only distributor of the CAC 40 says it has a “complete confidence” in the “perfect validity of its contracts”. The Ministry of the Economy, for its part, argues that the methods of the distribution giant “consist very concretely of suffocating franchisees by using a position of strength”.

These conclusions come within the framework of a summons emanating from a “Carrefour franchisees association”, which brings together disgruntled franchise store managers, and filed before the Rennes court. Bercy recommends a fine of 200 million euros.

Carrefour, whose shares plunged 8.87% on the stock market on Tuesday at 1 p.m., mentioned “a minority of franchisees disagree” who have “challenged in vain the attractiveness and growth of the model that the group has built with its partners during several disputes brought before different courts. The distributor highlights a system that attracts more than 6,000 franchise candidates each year.