Gérald Darmanin is “shocked” by the “community kitchen shelves” in supermarkets.
This Tuesday evening on the set of BFMTV, the Minister of the Interior accused these “specific departments” dedicated to the sale of halal or kosher products of being the gateways to “communitarianism”.
And to point the finger at "the responsibility" of certain companies, starting with those in the mass distribution industry.
Astonishing statements, which earned him a deluge of criticism, and deserve a decryption.
By the way @GDarmanin how I explain to terro victims.
who were shopping at the hyercacher, that they will no longer be able to do their shopping in another supermarket because of another act of terro during the trial which must do them justice?
🧐 #hypercacher
- Patrick Klugman (@PKlugman) October 21, 2020
What did Gérald Darmanin really say?
The minister's thought developed in two parts.
"It always shocked me to walk into a hypermarket and see that there is a section of such community cuisine, that's how communitarianism begins", first declared Gérald Darmanin, specifying that 'this was "his opinion", and that he did not plan to legislate on the issue, which is not the responsibility of his ministry anyway.
The former Budget Minister then reconsidered his remarks, asserting that he was not targeting community products such as halal or kosher strictly speaking, but the specific departments offering them in general supermarkets.
"It shocks me": Gérald Darmanin says he is hostile to the community kitchen shelves in supermarkets https://t.co/Pzvix58dZA
- BFMTV (@BFMTV) October 20, 2020
“I understand very well that halal meat is sold in supermarkets, what I regret is the shelves.
Why do I have to do a different spoke?
So I have the department for Muslims, the kosher department and then all the others… Why specific departments?
», He openly asked.
He then directly pointed to the “responsibility of French capitalism” in “communitarianism”.
Here too the Minister puts forward his “personal” opinion.
For Gérald Darmanin, "large companies have sometimes organized direct marketing" to "earn money on communitarianism".
"Me personally, that shocks me and allow me to say that if we have to hold politicians to account, we can also say to capitalism that it can be, from time to time, patriot", concluded the ex- mayor of Tourcoing.
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When contacted, the minister's entourage recalled the "personal" nature of his remarks.
“What he expressed is a personal opinion and it is not the consumers but the behavior of certain large multinational groups that he deplored, those who do their shameless marketing only on shelves, even spaces whole devoted exclusively to the sale of community products ”, it is still said.
How does large-scale distribution respond?
Neither Intermarché, Casino, Carrefour and Système U, contacted by the Parisian, wanted to comment on this case.
"If there is a law, we will think about it", assures a major retailer, who prefers to hide behind the legislative framework.
For Auchan, things are clearer.
“No, we don't have
community departments
as Gérald Darmanin seems to indicate.
We have specific offers, such as organic, halal, kosher, Italian, ”the group replied to Parisian.
“We have a specific offer because there are customers who are looking for these specific offers.
They are mostly gathered in a single place, because it is more convenient.
We offer all French citizens the products they need.
And so we will not change our position, it seems to us to be the exact opposite of communitarianism to bring in the same store people who buy kosher, halal or something else ”, we insist.
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Same response from Leclerc.
“These words reek of manipulation.
You can obviously sell kosher and halal while being a patriot.
I invite consumers and distribution employees not to devote too much time to these political controversies, ”writes Michel-Edouard Leclerc, CEO of the Breton brand on Twitter.
These words reek of manipulation.
You can obviously sell kosher and halal while being a patriot.
I invite consumers and distribution employees not to devote too much time to these political polemics.
https://t.co/0MrjqheiaH
- Michel-Edouard Leclerc (@Leclerc_MEL) October 21, 2020
At Kerets, distributor of kosher products, it is astonishment.
“We make kosher products for non-kosher supermarkets, so we're the first to be affected by this.
I think it's nonsense, it makes going to specialized grocery stores even more communal.
This compartmentalizes even more, "says a company executive, who remained anonymous.
"Our products, such as eggplant caviar and hummus, they are aimed at the community but also at everyone, it is a call from the foot to discover another culture", he says.
"Our products are put next to those halal, and it is the peace of taste", laughs the manager.
"Non-Jewish people buy our products, so do Muslim people."
What does the community kitchen represent in supermarkets?
Difficult to find precise figures.
The Halal Expo fair had advanced a few years ago a global turnover of 3 billion euros by combining both supermarkets and establishments such as butchers and other halal or kosher grocery stores.
According to Nielsen, for supermarkets, this figure would represent 320 million euros for halal products alone over the last 12 months (market study stopped on October 4, 2020).
A figure up 12% compared to last year, with, as for all consumer goods, a sharp increase during confinement (due to the holding of Ramadan in part during this period).
The weight of halal represents only 0.3% of the total turnover of consumer goods, specifies the Nielsen agency.
For kosher, on the other hand, little information on the economic weight of this sector.
Another figure to get an idea, more concrete: according to our information, in the Casino hypermarkets and supermarkets for example, halal products represent around 280 PGC (Consumer Products) references, ie ... 0.8% of total PGC references of a store.
