Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire announced on Monday the launch of an “anti-inflation quarter”, the result of an agreement with distributors who have undertaken to offer the “lowest possible” prices until June on a selection of products at their discretion.
The device, financed thanks to the margins of the distributors, will cost them “several hundred million euros”, the government also counting deploy a “food check” in the coming months for the most modest households, he added after a meeting in Paris with most of the supermarket chains.
At the end of this “anti-inflation quarter”, ” we will reopen trade negotiations (theoretically annual and which have just ended, editor’s note) with the major manufacturers so that the drop in wholesale prices, which we are seeing on the markets but which has not yet been passed on to everyday consumer products, can be translated” into everyday products, said Bruno Le Mayor.
Products sold at the “lowest possible” prices
The products that will be sold at the “lowest possible” prices will be “chosen freely” by each of the distributors, the minister specified, and may vary from one region to another. They will be identified by a three-color “anti-inflation quarter” logo. » The essentials of commercial operations will cover private label productson which brands have the most “latitude” to set prices, said Carrefour CEO Alexandre Bompard.
Bruno Le Maire’s announcements come as several large retailers have already announced commercial operations in recent days on a selection of everyday consumer products. “I did not wait for a public meeting to be cheaper”quipped Monday morning on Cnews the boss of the E. Leclerc centers Michel-Edouard Leclerc, who chose to shun the meeting but must speak during the day on the telephone with Bruno Le Maire.
Faced with food inflation which reached 14.5% over one year in February according to INSEE, the government had been looking for several months for a mechanism to support purchasing power.
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