國際時事跟讀 Ep.K645: The Challenge of Lowering Supermarket Prices in France

France's Finance Minister, Bruno Le Maire, is engaging in discussions with the country's top supermarkets and suppliers to address the rising cost of food and essential goods. Despite efforts to reduce prices, the cost of living continues to strain consumers' budgets. This article explores the factors contributing to France's struggle to lower supermarket prices.

法國的財政部長布魯諾·勒梅爾正與國內頂級超市和供應商進行討論，以應對食品和生活必需品的成本上漲。儘管努力降低價格，但生活成本仍然使消費者的預算捉襟見肘。本文探討了導致法國難以降低超市價格的因素。

Supply disruptions caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine last year led to increased commodity costs worldwide, contributing to global inflation. However, even after energy and agricultural commodity costs decreased this year, food prices in France and other countries continued to rise. In June, Le Maire secured a commitment from 75 leading food companies to lower prices on hundreds of products starting in July, aligning with reduced raw material costs. Unfortunately, only around 40 companies followed through on this pledge, highlighting the challenges in the industry.

去年俄羅斯入侵烏克蘭導致供應中斷，導致全球商品成本上升，助長了全球通脹。然而，即使在今年能源和農產品成本下降後，法國和其他國家的食品價格仍在繼續上升。今年六月，勒梅爾成功取得了75家主要食品公司的承諾，將從七月起降低數百種產品的價格，以配合原物料成本的降低。不幸的是，只有大約40家公司履行了此承諾，突顯了該行業所面臨的挑戰。

One key obstacle to aggressive price cuts in France is the way retail prices are determined. Unlike most countries, France has a legal framework that restricts price negotiations to a specific three-month window—between December 1st and March 1st each year. Prices remain fixed for a year unless individual agreements include review clauses. This system has caused retailers and industrial groups to forecast that significant price reductions will not occur until March of the following year. They argue for more frequent negotiations to adapt to changing economic conditions.

在法國，降低價格的一個關鍵障礙是零售價格確定的方式。與大多數國家不同，法國有一個法律框架，將價格談判限制在每年12月1日至3月1日的特定三個月之間。除非個別協議包含檢討條款，否則價格將固定一年。這一系統導致零售商和工業集團預測，重大價格下降將不會發生，直到次年三月。他們主張進行更頻繁的談判，以適應不斷變化的經濟條件。

France's EGAlim legislation, introduced in 2018 and updated in 2021, aimed to boost farmers' income by requiring contracts between suppliers and retailers to include automatic price revision clauses based on commodity price fluctuations. However, these revisions are limited to certain agricultural inputs like grains, milk, sugar, and meat, omitting other essential factors such as energy, labor, and packaging. A Senate report from the previous year revealed that revision clauses covering raw materials applied to only 20% of contracts, with most prices locked in yearly negotiations.

法國的EGAlim法案於2018年推出，並於2021年進行了更新，目標透過要求供應商和零售商之間的合約包含基於商品價格波動的自動價格修訂條款來提高農民的收入。然而，這些修訂僅限於一些農產品，如穀物、牛奶、糖和肉類，不包括其他如能源、勞動力和包裝等其他重要因素。去年的參議院報告顯示，僅有20％的合約涵蓋了與原物料有關的修訂條款，其餘多數的價格則固定在年度談判中。

Additional factors affecting prices include regulations limiting product discounts and promotional offers. Retailers are prohibited from discounting products by more than 34% of their value and from selling more than 25% of a product's volume in promotional deals under the EGAlim legislation. A new law, the Descrozaille law, extends the 34% limit to beauty, hygiene, and care products. Critics, such as Carrefour's CEO Olivier Bompard, argue that this law restricts retailers' bargaining power and ultimately benefits multinational corporations rather than small producers.

影響價格的其他因素包括限制產品折扣和促銷優惠的法規。根據EGAlim法案，零售商不得將產品折扣超過其價值的34％，也不得將產品銷量的25％以上用於促銷。一項名為Descrozaille的新法律將34％的限制擴展到美容、衛生和護理產品。家樂福的CEO奧利維爾·邦帕爾等批評者認為該法律限制了零售商的議價能力，最終受益的只有跨國公司而非小生產商。

Reference article: https://www.reuters.com/markets/europe/why-is-france-struggling-lower-supermarket-prices-2023-08-30/