The distribution giant Carrefour will offer customers of its 5,945 stores in France from March 15 to June 15 a basket of 200 basic products at locked prices of less than two euros as a device against inflation that it fears will continue to rise in feeding.
In an interview published today by Le Journal du Dimanche , its CEO, Alexandre Bompard, explains that this basket will include a hundred food products considered “healthy” , with an A or B rating on Nutriscore , and another 100 for daily use . as for hygiene, all with their own brands.
Among the first group there will be yogurts, eggs, fresh fruits and vegetables, but also canned, frozen, bread, milk or cereals. In the second detergent, baby diapers, flour or biscuits.
They have been selected on the basis of round tables with clients of the chain in response to their demand.
Last December, the Government had raised the possibility of negotiating a common basket for all distribution groups in the face of price escalation , but the majority opposed it, and the alternative that seems to emerge is for each one to present their own. own.
The interannual inflation of food products reached 14.5% in France in February and this dynamic could increase in the coming months in view of the evolution of the annual tariff negotiations between the industry (which demanded increases of around 20%) and distribution groups.
Bombpard predicts that “the level of inflation for food is going to remain in the double digits through this summer and will probably rise above where it is today.”
“The level of inflation for food is going to remain in the double digits until this summer and will probably continue to rise”
The CEO estimates that the cost for his company of blocking prices for the products in the basket will be “several tens of millions of euros”.
“We do everything possible so that inflation is not synonymous with regression in the quality of food”
But he considers it pertinent with the argument that “we do everything possible so that inflation is not synonymous with regression in the quality of food.”
