“We are being thrown out to pasture” by the presidential majority, accuses Michel-Édouard Leclerc

Store boss E. Leclerc notably accuses deputies of the presidential majority of having published a series of tweets against him.

“Today we are being thrown out to pasture”, laments, Monday February 5 on France Inter, Michel-Édouard Leclerc, president of the strategic committee of the E. Leclerc centers, while farmers mobilized for almost two weeks all over France. The boss of the distribution leader also accuses “a group of Renaissance and MoDem deputies” of it “aim personally”with “a tweet factory” targeting him.

Michel-Édouard Leclerc points to the responsibility of the government and the presidential majority: “Every peasant demonstration ends in the parking lots of hypermarkets, it is a way for the public authorities to divert tensions to areas without too many people and with moderate damage.” He evokes “manifestation instructions” calling for “come into mass distribution”. Michel-Édouard Leclerc says to himself “sacrificed” in this type of situation and regrets not having received “message or call” from the Minister of the Interior Gérald Darmanin and the Minister of Agriculture Marc Fesneau.

The president of the strategic committee of the centers E. Leclerc judges this situation “incomprehensible”. “We are not the first customers of agriculture”, he defends himself. According to Michel-Édouard Leclerc, “distribution only buys a third of French agricultural products, manufacturers another third”. However, he assures that farmers “did not go to manufacturers or to collective catering”.

Michel-Édouard Leclerc claims to be “patriotic”

Michel-Édouard Leclerc acknowledges having “a share of responsibility” in this anger of the agricultural world, of which he finds “an extremely justified part”. However, his media silence has been singled out by farmers. This Monday, February 5, Leclerc’s boss explains his absence in the media by assuring that he did not want to “add sparkles”. “It was not up to us to respond in place of the Minister of Agriculture on the insufficient pension system for farmers, on the inability to negotiate good international agreements like Mercosur or even to define excess health standards “he says.

The president of the strategic committee of the centers E. Leclerc also responds to the accusations of farmers who criticize the brand for having favored foreign products to the detriment of French products. Michel-Édouard Leclerc introduces himself as “legalist” And “patriot”. He promises that his group has never broken the Egalim law. Michel-Édouard Leclerc lists several products sold in his stores: “100% of the fresh pork from our distributor brand is French” as “100% beef”, “100% of our baking flours”, “100% fresh eggs”. “For fruits and vegetables, 75.5% of the volumes purchased by the brand are of French origin and even 99% of cherries, 96% of our apples, 99% for leeks, 94% for apricots”details the leader in mass distribution.

Michel-Édouard Leclerc recognizes that we can find on the shelves of his hypermarkets wines from “from Spain, Argentina or Tuscany” (Italy). “That there are labeling errors, that we find imported products individually, I am not saying the opposite”, he admits. But the president of the strategic committee of the centers E. Leclerc retorts that France “is not a closed, compartmentalized country, nor a Soviet country”. “If we make mistakes, we will correct them”he assures.