Farmers' demonstration: access to five large supermarkets blocked in Pertuis

They continue to show their anger. Farmers have been mobilizing this Friday morning since 7 a.m. in Pertuis (Vaucluse). With around forty tractors, they block access to consumers of five supermarketsCarrefour, ALDI, Lidl, or even Super U… A non-unionized movement which aims to denounce the abusive margins of mass distribution. Also in their sights is the signing of the free trade agreement with the Mercosur countries in South America. No disruption on the road expected.

The Super U supermarket car park is inaccessible. Access to the store and gas station is blocked. The police are on site to supervise the demonstration and prevent any excess.

Nicolas Devolder, the store director blames the blow: “This is a very significant inconvenience. There are more than 300 people working in this company. Some have been working since 4 a.m. to put products on the shelves that cannot be sold today. We work with all the local farmers who want to work with us. We try to pay the price they offer. We join them in their movement, but when I hear that we sell times 3, times 5 or times 10, no, that's not the case“.

This Friday, volunteers from Restos du Cœur and the Food Bank were to be mobilized in the store to collect food. According to the director of the Super U of Pertuis, “A Friday like this normally means 300,000 euros in turnover.”

Lionel is one of the farmers mobilized in Pertuis. A year after the first blockages in France, he is still angry: “unfair competition, Mercosur, falling production costs, we're getting there“.