If emergency measures do not support French agrifood, and supermarkets do not pass on the soaring energy prices, some manufacturers may no longer be able to produce, warns the president of the Association. National Food Industry (Ania), Jean-Philippe André.
The 16,000 companies in the sector, which includes a few giants and “
98% of SMEs
”, “
await with anxiety the outcome of Friday's meeting in Brussels
”, where an EU meeting devoted to the crisis of the crisis is being held. energy, he explained Thursday in an interview with AFP.
To help them, the president of Ania calls on the government to “
intervene at European level to cap the price of energy
” and to “
review the eligibility criteria for aid
”.
“Some production lines are negative margin”
Since the start of the war in Ukraine, industrial production costs have soared: +29% for agricultural raw materials, +26% for packaging, and now +57% for energy, recalls the organization.
With regard to agricultural products, the EGalim 2 law forced distributors to pass on increases in the purchase price of products to manufacturers, mitigating the shock.
This is not the case, however, for energy related increases.
“
Certain production lines are now at negative margins in bakery and charcuterie
,” warns Jean-Philippe André.
"
There are companies that will continue stubbornly, so as not to lose market share, but it will not last
."
Others simply risk "
no longer producing
", "
especially small businesses that have less cash
".
They are not eligible, moreover, for emergency government aid, when their energy expenditure does not reach 3% of their 2021 turnover, he explains.
"
Not everything must come from the state
", however nuance Ania, which has been waging a showdown for several months with large retailers, accused of not accepting price increases linked to soaring energy bills.
Read alsoTrade renegotiations are “not over at all”, warns the agri-food industry
“
France is the country where food inflation is the least significant: in August 2022, it was 8.4% in France against 15.5% in Germany
”, criticizes Jean-Philippe André.
According to him, only half of the companies that have reopened negotiations with supermarkets have managed to obtain increases, at around 6% instead of the 8-9% they had hoped for.
“
The first industry in the country, which has been very resilient during the Covid crisis, would stop producing now?
It's not an option
,” he says.
“
We have to be able to pass increases that are proven
”.
