Olivia Grégoire, Minister Delegate for Consumer Affairs, would like supermarkets to sell 20 items at a knockdown price, according to “Le Parisien”.
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Vtwenty items at the lowest possible price to help the French in their shopping. This is Olivia Grégoire’s project, according to The Parisian. While food prices are likely to be at their highest at the start of 2023, the Minister Delegate therefore wants to ask each major distributor to choose 20 products and offer them at a discounted price. A first version of the project considered requiring supermarkets to sell products at cost price. A legally untenable position.
This measure is inspired by what is already done in Greece. There, food prices have been falling for a few weeks, and consumers have a website to monitor the average price of a basket from each store. If the State has deployed several aids since the start of inflation to help households with energy costs, “it is true that nothing has been put in place to help the French fill their carts. […] A sign from the government would be a plus, especially since the food check, yet Emmanuel Macron’s campaign promise, has never seen the light of day, ”said a senior official from Bercy.
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The threat of consumption
To convince the big brands to follow this project, the ministry intends to rely on the risk of deconsumption at the beginning of the year. “January remains the month of all dangers, after the holidays, when consumers slow down. We can already see that the sales of meat, dairy products or fruits and vegetables are quite worrying. Distributors have every interest in maintaining consumption,” said a specialist.
And, if Bercy is studying these levers to convince large retailers, it is because he knows that a pebble in his shoe arrives on Monday, January 16 at the National Assembly. The Renaissance deputy Frédéric Descrozaille will present a bill which aims to “secure the supply of French people with consumer products”. A project which is accused of favoring the interests of large agri-food groups – it is nicknamed the “Nestlé-Coca” bill – since it limits promotions to 34% and prevents prices that are too low.READ ALSO From “wooden check” to wooden check
“The basket was a good idea and I was in favor of setting it up when Olivia Grégoire’s advisers contacted me this fall. But there, the deal has changed, ”regrets Michel-Édouard Leclerc. “The prices of our suppliers will increase by an average of 15% in March. With this law, we lose the advantage of big promotions and the 10% margin is maintained. No distributor can undertake to add to this a basket of products sold at low prices,” he warns.
There are still a few days left for Olivia Grégoire to convince everyone: the Minister Delegate wanted to set up this basket in March.