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To cut prices, Leclerc is known to be as tough with its suppliers as with its competitors. A journalist from “Complément d’investigation” was hired in a regional center, where part of the negotiations with manufacturers are managed. Equipped with a hidden camera, she discovered methods that were not always orthodox…
What is “strategic storage”? A journalist from “Complément d’investigation” who was hired as a sales assistant in a Leclerc purchasing center asked herself the question when she noticed these two words written on the files of certain major brands, suppliers of hypermarkets. According to the head of his department, this would involve taking advantage of promotional periods to order more merchandise than necessary, with the aim of later selling the excess purchased at a discount to the consumer at a high price. Are suppliers aware? “Especially not”, he says.
“This thing is a vector of huge numbers and profitability. On average, we earn 10,000 euros per week. Over the year, 50 times 10,000, that’s not bad…”
A service managerin a Leclerc purchasing center
The practice is not illegal if the products on promotion do not represent more than 25% of all purchases from the supplier over the year. Butaccording to the service manager, he is coming Sometimes that the power plant is slipping. “We put ourselves in danger on strategic storage in relation to the law”, he explains, grateful to have “emptied the stock” from a small regional supplier “over a year”.
“If the Fraud Repression comes, we’ll get wiped out”
According to the journalist’s findings, this process would not be specific to this plant, and management would be fully aware. She was able to attend a remote meeting between Leclerc headquarters and representatives of its sixteen regional centers, where the question of storage of all these products purchased on promotion is precisely at the center of the conversation. That day, four out of sixteen regional power plants said they were using strategic storage.
When contacted, the regional center and the brand’s management did not respond to the “Additional investigation” questions on the use of this practice.
Extract from “Broken prices, pressure shots: revelations about the Leclerc system”, a document to be seen in “Additional investigation” on September 14, 2023.
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