Overseas Network, May 3.
Some basic foods in French supermarkets are widely out of stock, or even cut off.
According to French media, the phenomenon reflects a variety of tensions, including consumer concerns and panic buying, continued international conflicts, rising production costs, and even difficult trade negotiations against the current backdrop of high inflation.
According to the French BFM TV report on the 2nd, whether it is cooking oil, flour or pasta, there are now signs of shortages, which troubles French families.
The Nielsen Institute (NielsenIQ) noted that some basic food supplies have continued to decline since early March, although this trend needs to be further confirmed in the coming weeks.
The biggest shortages in French supermarkets are cooking oil, followed by frozen potatoes, flour, pasta and eggs.
According to the Nielsen Institute, 3.1% of food items have been in short supply at one point since the beginning of 2022, with an average out-of-stock period of four days, with 60% of them being groceries and fresh produce.
The main reason for the shortage of edible oil and flour is that consumers make preventive purchases.
French consumers ramped up purchases ahead of schedule amid concerns that the international conflict would depress stocks of sunflower oil and wheat, while distributors' supply chains failed to keep up.
But that's not the only reason for the shortage, French media said.
For eggs, for example, the outbreak of bird flu in France and higher feed prices have also added to the tight supply situation.
Jean-Philippe André, president of the French National Association of the Food Industry (ANIA), explained that 70% of the cost of eggs lies in feed, and the current international conflict has led to tight supply of chicken feed and rising prices.
He added that the situation also applies to soaring feed prices for "meat products", especially poultry, pigs and cattle.
Jean-Philippe Andre believes it is necessary to call on the French to "do not panic", but also to understand the situation facing the entire agri-food industry, as another reason for the current tight supply is the end of distributorship with food manufacturing on March 1. Manufacturers are restarting price negotiations amid high inflation in production costs after the annual negotiation of manufacturers and an increase in purchase prices.
Christian Lambert, president of the French National Confederation of Agricultural Producers' Trade Unions (FSNEA), explained, "We are now selling pigs at 1.9 euros per kilo, up from 1.4 euros per kilo in January, but with the cost of We are losing money, and the price increase is necessary.” She pointed out that negotiations with distributors were very difficult and accused them of always trying to keep prices down.
But the distributor side positions itself as the "defender of French households' purchasing power," which is a persuasive argument that the French are most concerned about right now.
Michel-Edouard Leclerc, chief executive of E. Leclerc, a large French distributor, also pointed out that rising raw material prices cannot be the only reason for manufacturers to raise prices, even accusing it of "speculation."
(Overseas Network - Paris - Lujia)