The UFC Que Choisir is not convinced by the establishment of an “anti-inflation quarter”, announced by the Minister of the Economy Bruno Le Maire. The UFC food project manager believes that this agreement is not firm enough with the supermarkets.
The anti-inflation quarter in major retailers until June “could be a misleading advertisement for consumers“, estimates Olivier Andrault, in charge of food mission at the UFC Que Choisir, guest of the program Ma France on France Bleu this Monday.
>> INFOGRAPHICS: franceinfo shopping basket, the price of our 37 everyday products increased by another 16.6% in February
The Minister of the Economy Bruno Le Maire announced this Monday at a press conference that an agreement with large retailers had been reached to set up a “anti-inflation quarter” in supermarkets until June. “Unfortunately, the recipe offered to us is even worse [que le panier anti-inflation finalement abandonné par le gouvernement, ndlr] since in fact, what was presented by Bruno Le Maire this morning, it is quite simply absolutely voluntary commitments, freely agreed to by the various retail brands”, reacts Olivier Andrault, “finally, each brand will be able to make the anti-inflation basket it wants”.
“The biggest scandal being that these products will be labeled by the government with a blue white red logo”
Olivier Andrault, Food Project Manager at UFC Que Choisirat France Bleu
“We see that there is no desire on the part of the government to put firm commitments on the table from the distributor”regrets the project manager, because “there is no regulatory definition of what the lowest possible price is. It may very well end up being a product that has already been sold at these price conditions”.
According to the mission leader, “We deprive the consumer of the ability to compare these products. That means that potentially it could be a misleading advertisement for consumers.”
A check for the most modest
To finance the anti-inflation quarter, the big brands will have to cut back on their margins, but for Olivier Andrault this is not enough. He denounces the fact that “since 2019, large retailers have benefited from a guaranteed minimum margin of 10%, particularly on first-price products, which has the greatest impact on the most modest households”. He estimates that “this is totally unacceptable and scandalous in this period of galloping inflation. Our very clear request to the government is to put an end to this minimum guaranteed margin. This would immediately give the possibility of seeing prices and margins drop to 10% not on a few hundred products, but on thousands”.
Minister Bruno Le Maire also announced “a food voucher for the most modest”. This check will be for those “who have the lowest income”. “The Experiment” will “in the coming months” To “territorial scale”he said. “It is obviously desirable”, concludes Olivier Andrault, “We know that it is the segment of the population that is most affected by these price increases. Now the question is ‘what are we doing for the rest of the consumers?’ Our proposal is to stop the gift to large retailers constituting these minimum margins, guaranteed 10%”reaffirms Olivier Andrault.