French supermarket chains are not willing to sell at unprofitable prices

“The prohibition of selling at a loss has been a very important commercial principle since 1963”

– declared Alexandre Bompard, the president and CEO of Carrefour, at the hearing of the Trade Committee of the National Assembly, adding that “we must not open Pandora’s box”.

“The economic reality is that we will not take advantage of this opportunity”

– said Thierry Cotillard, president of the Les Mousquetaires group (Intermarché, Netto) regarding the sale of fuel below the cost price. “If they did that, we would have to raise the price of pasta, but we didn’t go completely crazy,” he added.

The managers of the E. Leclerc and Systeme U chains also rejected the proposal.