The promotion war. Last Thursday, manufacturers showed their credentials by promising price cuts between “7.5 and 10%” by September. This Wednesday, it is the turn of the general manager of System U, Dominique Schelcher, to unveil a massive promotional campaign. “We are going to lower the price of 300 products from our private label”, announced the leader in the morning of Radio Classique.
This operation, which is superimposed on that of the anti-inflation quarter, will target “everyday products”. “It will be beans, cola – which has increased sharply in recent months – canned fish, and more broadly, products from all departments, in particular paper-based, beauty products”, detailed the director general of Système U. If we add these 300 products to the 150 articles of the anti-inflation quarter, no less than 450 references will be sold at discounted prices in the distributor’s supermarkets.
“We take into account the evolution of the price of raw materials”, explains Dominique Schelcher to justify these promotions. Among the declining industrial inputs, the manager cites “paper” or even “coffee”. “We pass on the price cuts to the consumer, unlike the manufacturers,” he said.
Particularly critical of industrialists since the beginning of the inflationary period, Dominique Schelcher once again reiterated his grievances at the microphone of Radio Classique. “There are no ongoing trade negotiations. There are small discussions with a handful of suppliers, but we come to nothing for the consumer”, he scolded, underlining the lack of will of the giants of the food industry. “Big brands do not support consumers. They are rebuilding their margins, beyond the actual cost coverage,” said the distributor.
Ready to “move the lines” to stem inflation, Dominique Schelcher is campaigning for an overhaul of the pricing system. “We must change the trading system in France, it is no longer adapted to a period when the prices of raw materials are constantly moving,” he pleads. As for the threats made by Bercy with regard to recalcitrant industrialists – tax, “name and shame” … -, Dominique Schelcher is not opposed to it. “We alone can’t do it so if the government takes action, it will be so much the better…”, he said.
