French food groups agree to renegotiate prices - minister (updated)

Bonduelle SA

17/05/2023 12:23

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       PARIS, May 17 (Reuters) - France's food industry has
agreed to reopen price negotiations with retailers early,
Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said on Wednesday after he put
pressure on big food companies to lower prices.
    "This is excellent news for consumers, it means that prices
are going to be renegotiated lower early, so we will be able to
break the inflationary spiral," Le Maire told journalists after
meeting with food industry representatives.
    Despite declines in prices of raw materials on global
markets, French food inflation has surged over 15% in recent
months after food companies and retailers agreed to an average
10% increase in annual price negotiations in March.
    Last week Le Maire threatened to use tax measures to claw
back what he described as undue profits from the food industry
if it did not accept talks on high prices.
    Le Maire said on Wednesday that negotiations would take
place before the end of the month, which meant that consumers
for example could see lower prices for pasta as soon as this
summer in light of the falling price of wheat.

 (Reporting by Leigh Thomas; Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise)
 ((leigh.thomas@thomsonreuters.com; +33 1 4949 5143;))