Action reaction.
The boss of Mousquetaires/Intermarché Thierry Cotillard on Tuesday judged
the comments of the Minister of Agriculture who denounced the
“lack of patriotism”
of mass distribution to be
“very inappropriate”
and
“not up to standard” .
“It is not at the level, I expect responsibility from the Minister of Agriculture, in this crisis,”
declared Thierry Cotillard on France Inter, estimating that
“it is not knowing his files to say That"
.
“Large distribution is French companies. So either they are French, or they are stateless multinationals. But, finally, they have responsibilities to take before us
,” declared Thursday the Minister of Agriculture Marc Fesneau, during a visit to agricultural operations in Finistère.
“Everyone must take their part (...) They do not consider that they are French, it is a lack of patriotism.
I regret that
,” continued the minister.
“I find this inappropriate on the part of the minister who is adding fuel to the fire
,” said Thierry Cotillard who
“responded very badly to this declaration
. ”
“I would have preferred it to bring industrialists, farmers and distributors to the table
,” he said.
The boss of Les Mousquetaires/Intermarché recalled that his private label had
“made the choice fifty years ago to have factories in France”
and that
“eggs, butter, poultry, beef, everything we sells raw material is 100% French
.
Thierry Cotillard also underlined having
“very constructive exchanges with Bruno Le Maire, who today has the Economy in hand but who in the past had the role of Minister of Agriculture”
.
Read also: Anger of farmers: these purchasing centers abroad accused of crushing prices
Floor prices:
“a brake on European competitiveness”
Thierry Cotillard also highlighted the floor prices proposed by Emmanuel Macron to better remunerate French farmers.
The boss of Intermarché says he is
“surprised”
by this announcement, the
“floor prices”
being
“a brake on European competitiveness”
.
“The notion of a floor price had not been discussed with the other ministers, neither Gabriel Attal, nor the Minister of Agriculture
,” Thierry Cotillard said on France Inter.
“I think this will be a brake on European competitiveness where we are also very happy to export, but I will let the agricultural managers express themselves on the subject
,” added the boss of the Mousquetaires/Intermarché.
“Before all European stakeholders can agree on this subject, it will take some time, even a few years, and (...) farmers can no longer wait
,” according to Thierry Cotillard.
“We need concrete, immediate decisions
,” he added, saying he was
“favorable to an Egalim law which goes further in terms of direction and transparency
. ”
Concerning European purchasing centers, Les Mousquetaires/Intermarché which for the moment
“buys everything in France”
, will have to
“go there”
, according to Thierry Cotillard.
“If we have confirmation that it is indeed legal – and the reading we have is that it is legal – we will have to go for it otherwise there will be too much of a price gap with our competitors
,” said -he said.
These European centrals
“are useful for weighing on inflation”
he added, proposing
“a charter”
with the five leaders of mass distribution to
“exclude from the European central all files which would have a significant component in agricultural products »
.
“There are 10% of files that must leave European centers to protect farmers’ income
,” according to Thierry Cotillard.
Finally, he assured that for the Casino supermarkets and hypermarkets taken over by Intermarché, there are
“no plans to reduce the workforce”
.
“Social benefits and salaries are well maintained for 15 months and after that it will be up to each manager to put their managerial policy in place
,” he added.