French supermarket chains are not willing to sell at unprofitable prices

By: Trademagazin Date: 2023. 09. 20. 10:34

The largest French supermarket chains announced on Wednesday that they are not willing to sell fuel at a loss in order to curb inflation, as proposed by the government.

“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.