In 2023, the battle between large stores and their suppliers (food manufacturers) has a good chance of moving beyond our borders and being played out at the level of international purchasing centers. In these entities established abroad, distributors from different countries come together to order larger volumes from large multinationals and therefore obtain lower prices.
Leclerc thus founded, in 2016, with the German group Rewe, Eurelec Trading, whose headquarters is in Brussels. That of Carrefour (Eureca), which his offices in Madrid, was created in 2022 and will negotiate for six countries of the group (France, Spain, Italy, Belgium, Romania and Poland). Système U joined the German Edeka and the Dutch Picnic in 2022 in the Everest alliance, based in the Netherlands. Système U also includes a service center (Epic, established in Geneva), where with Jeronimo Martins (Portugal), Ica (Sweden), Migros (Switzerland) and Esselunga (Italy). Epic will notably sell data to brands based on a total of 140 billion euros in turnover.
A trend that does not delight the public authorities. In a 2019 report, a commission of inquiry of the National Assembly denounced the opacity of this system. “In March 2023, the Descrozaille law sought to regulate international power plants by requiring that contracts concluded on products marketed in France comply with certain French laws such as the Egalim laws [qui vise à protéger la rémunération des agriculteurs] »underlines Nicolas Genty, lawyer and founder of the Loi & Stratégies firm.
Escaping the rules of French law?
Want to escape the rules of French law? Absolutely not, the brands swear. To hear them say it would just be a matter of finding a country in common with their partners. Grouping for the purchase of Système U “excludes French SMEs and mid-sized companies” and will be “in compliance with the Egalim law, it is written in the appendices of our alliance”promises Dominique Schelcher, CEO of Système U who tries to debunk any criticism.
At Système U, pricing discussions will take place within the alliance Everest with the forty-four multinationals which are its largest suppliers. A voluntary approach, assures Mr. Schelcher. A quarter of them have already accepted, including Lactalis (President, Galbani, Lactel, etc.), but not Pepsi (Lipton Ice Tea, Pepsi, Bénénuts, Quaker, Lay’s, Doritos, etc.). With the latter, “we will continue to discuss in France”but not in the same quantities. “Whoever is not in it, we will probably reduce their assortment,” warns the boss. Before wondering: “Is it normal that the 1.25 liter bottle of Fanta is sold for 1.35 euros in Germany with 19% VAT and 1.48 euros in France with 5.5% VAT, or that the 800 ml of liquid of Finish rinses are 2.29 euros in Germany but 5.95 euros in France? We will seek to reduce these gaps. »