New EU rules could rewrite the playbook
France has become a hotspot in a growing rift between retailers and food manufacturers over who gets the biggest slice of the pie, with shoppers caught in the crossfire and confronted by bold messages in stores.
“Hands off our snacks!”, read signs displayed in Intermarché supermarkets last week. The marketing campaign warns customers that France’s “emergency law” for agriculture, currently under examination by the national parliament, could increase prices at the checkout.
While the bill was originally aimed at supporting farmers – and is best known for its controversial provisions on pesticides – amendments targeting commercial relations have startled retailers.
Some would loosen the country’s strict system of annual negotiations by allowing suppliers to revise tariffs during the year in response to rising costs – laid bare by the Middle East crisis. But supermarkets fear they would lose bargaining power.
