PARIS (Reuters) – French distributors have the means to seek price reductions for food products in their negotiations with manufacturers even if 80% of the latter are preparing to ask for increases, Michel-Edouard Leclerc estimated on Wednesday.

“We know that there are sectors where we can seek reductions. If we all go together, it should work”, declared on franceinfo the boss of the Leclerc centers while the government must present to the Council of Ministers a bill to advance annual tariff discussions between the two parties in the hope of obtaining a greater reduction in prices early next year.

The average increase of 10% negotiated for 2023 kept food prices high in French supermarkets even as global prices for food raw materials fell sharply.

French law provides for a three-month window for annual negotiations, usually from December 1 to March 1, but the executive wants to bring the deadline forward to January 15.

“Parliament still needs to validate this text”, underlined Michel-Edouard Leclerc, “and it is not won, because until now, there has been no agreement between Parliament, including the presidential majority, and the government.”

“If the deputies give us this new law and more quickly, we have the means to seek reductions,” judged the president of the Leclerc group, justifying in particular his relative optimism by “the balance of power which means that our brands of distributors today are really cheaper than theirs.

Asked about the possibility of an agreement on the moderation of margins desired by Emmanuel Macron, Michel-Edouard Leclerc considered it “possible”. “We must first renegotiate, we must seek, if not reductions, lower inflation for 2024. And I am telling you that that will do it,” he said.

(Written by Jean-Stéphane Brosse, edited by Blandine Hénault)

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