“
It goes away on its own.
We have already made three trolleys this morning and the fourth is ready to be put on the shelves
”.
Traoré, baker in the E. Leclerc D'Épinay-sur-Seine hypermarket in Seine-Saint-Denis, is a busy man.
For a few days his department has become the star of mass distribution.
In question, the communication coup of Michel-Édouard Leclerc, president of the brand, who announced Tuesday, January 11, that his chain would now sell the baguette for four months at 29 cents.
A statement that continues to be controversial, but which, according to the employee, has allowed a surge in purchases compared to the 40 cents of the old price.
“
Sales have doubled
,” he rejoices.
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An impression confirmed by the figures of the sign.
"
The white baguette represents, depending on the location of the store, between 10 to 30% of the sales of a bakery department
", explains Leclerc.
A good result, but the tradition remains “
the most sold in the E. Leclerc Centers with a price between 0.75 and 0.85 euro
”, adds the sign.
Consumers are much less rave about the product.
"
I take it to make toast in the morning, but it's just windy, it's not suitable for eating with cheese or anything else
," points out Joseph, a 69-year-old retiree, with a baguette in his shopping cart.
Same story for Omar, 42, “
it's true that a baguette is expensive.
Especially when you go to the bakery.
But when I can I prefer to pay a little more and have quality
”.
"We don't know what's inside"
After hesitating for a long time between the first prize and a slightly more expensive traditional baguette, Nouzoud, a young 34-year-old mother, chooses the second: "
I prefer to eat less and have more quality
", she explains, "
and then we don't know what's in it
,” she concludes.
The composition, written on the back, reveals many elements other than the usual wheat, water and yeast.
We find in particular emulsifier (E471), flour treatment agent (E300), enzymes...
Aïcha, she did not hesitate.
This retiree has a very tight budget and must favor the cheapest: “
before I took traditions, for three bought, the fourth was free.
But since they lowered the price of the baguette, they have increased the price of other breads
, ”she squeaks, behind her mask.
Questioned on this point by
Le Figaro
, the brand did not respond.
Read alsoFor Valérie Pécresse, the baguette at 29 cents is a “decoy”
After the baguette at 29 cents, a new controversy erupted over the price of pork chops, sold at less than two euros per kilo. If Serge and Sylviane, 68 and 63 years old, have switched to the first price baguette, they do not however have confidence in such cheap meat: "
at that price, we don't really know what there is in it
”, raises Madame, “
it must clearly not be French meat
”, adds Monsieur. Questioned on the set of BFM Business, Michel-Edouard Leclerc justified these prices, explaining that it was a question of "
clearance
" following the Christmas holidays: "
from the moment they did not sell them, the pigs are too fat and it costs them too much to keep them
“, justified the leader.
A practice shared by "
at System U, at Intermarché
", he added.
He also defended himself from strangling the producers: "
we will not be the black sheep of the Egalim law
", he concluded.