Cirse agricole: a supermarket that buys products at prices set by producers

Sandrine Prioul // Credits: RICCARDO MILANI / HANS LUCAS / HANS LUCAS VIA AFP 7:45 a.m., February 3, 2024, modified at 7:47 a.m., February 3, 2024

Sell ​​at the right price. This is one of the central demands of farmers during the mobilization. Currently, many producers are forced to sell their production at a loss to manufacturers who are driving prices down. Other brands let farmers set the price for the results of their work. This is the case of a supermarket near Nantes which has 1,000 square meters of shelves offering products from the region. A sort of large covered market where customers and producers find what they are looking for. 

“Here you have potatoes, there is a small poster where it says the share of the price that goes to the producer when you buy them,” the supermarket manager explains to Europe 1. In the middle of the store's aisles, a customer is stocking up on vegetables. In his bag are piled turnips and leeks. "I shop here because I know where the products come from. I find it unfair that we go elsewhere because it's less expensive. There are products here that have prices similar to those in supermarkets, “others a little cheaper and others a little more,” she explains.

>> READ ALSO -

 Pascal Praud and you - “With 700 euros per month together, I had to take out a loan to pay my social charges,” says a goat breeder indignantly

Being able to set your price  

For producers who sell their fruits and vegetables through the brand, being able to set their price is a real luxury. “We agree on the price with the department manager. Sometimes large retailers impose promotions on us that are not at all in line with market prices,” says a market gardener who does business with the supermarket. Remuneration without an intermediary and without prohibitive packaging costs which makes farmers smile.