The CEO of Carrefour Alexandre Bompard answered several questions from readers of Le Parisien this Sunday. He promised stabilization of shelf prices in 2025.
The CEO of Carrefour answered consumers' questions in an article published by Le Parisien this Sunday, December 22. The opportunity to keep several promises on the measures planned by the distributor to preserve the purchasing power of the French.
It must be said that the years following the health crisis were marked by historic hyperinflation. If inflation seems to have become almost stable again since then, “prices are not going to return to the previous level”, regrets Alexandre Bompard, promising to be “combative” in particular on the ongoing negotiations with manufacturers to “obtain stability prices” from 2025.
“In 2024, we have lowered the price of 2,500 of our products by more than 10%. We are the brand that has made the biggest reductions,” he says.
Private labels against inflation
Among the efforts highlighted by the CEO of Carrefour, mention is made of promotions in the pre-Christmas period: “this is the case for 40% of toys and 60% of our chocolates”. The next step announced is to offer reductions on fruits and vegetables, organic products and even fish. “During the crisis, the French were forced to give up eating well,” he explains.
But the distributor would like to generalize these promotions and says he is constrained by regulations. In particular the Descrozailles law, which has been limiting promotions on hygiene and beauty products for more than a year. “I urgently ask the government to put an end to this experiment, because it is one,” demands Alexandre Bompard while justifying that the French “go without essential products such as baby diapers, toothpaste [ou] toothbrushes.”
Anne, 54 years old and a state employee, rightly deplores that “detergent or dishwasher tablets have become horribly expensive”. The latter shares having opted for budget brands. The opportunity for the CEO of Carrefour to argue that these private labels are “our number 1 shield against inflation”.
“Our own brand then represented 20% of our turnover, today it is almost 40%. This allows us to have prices on average 30% lower than the big brands,” argues Alexandre Bompard.
“La Ferme France is not competitive enough”
Wafa, a 44-year-old self-employed person, explains that she is more attracted by the Leclerc and Lidl stores. And rightly so: E.Leclerc is unsurprisingly the favorite supermarket chain of three out of ten French people, far ahead of Carrefour (12.7%) and Lidl (12.7%). To attract consumers, Alexandre Bompard plans to offer “the cheapest organic on the market” and launch from 2025 “a new loyalty card which will allow you to have a 10% reduction on all fruits and vegetables in all our stores”.
All while focusing as much as possible on products of French origin, provided that the prices follow. “This is our top priority. We want to double the supply within 50 km of the store,” he defends while recalling the problem of price mismatches. “La Ferme France is not competitive enough”, in particular because of excessive standards or costs.
“On the one hand, we have farmers who do not make a decent living from their work, and on the other, customers who cannot always afford French strawberries,” he laments.
Mercosur in the equation
Savings are more likely to be found among large manufacturers who buy in bulk from farmers. “Danone, Lactalis, etc.”, from which Alexandre Bompard demands more “transparency”. A subject which is also relevant on an international scale with the ongoing debate on the promulgation of the Mercosur free trade agreement.
As a group established in both France and Brazil, Carrefour ensures that it “defends the agriculture of the country” in which it is located. “I want to reassure French farmers, I will continue to buy almost 100% of our meat in France. On the other hand, when I am in Brazil, I buy my meat from Brazilian farmers,” summarizes Alexandre Bompard.
A point to reassure Brazilian producers who had announced a boycott on the fact of not distributing their meat in France. “There was concern that we were not going to continue to buy Brazilian meat in Brazil. We reassured them. This misunderstanding is behind us,” he describes.
