Faced with the price of the Leclerc baguette at less than 30 cents, the FNSEA of Charente denounces a destructive campaign for French agriculture. It symbolically awards the Lunesse store in Angoulême its “manure of gold”.
Posted by Free Charente on Tuesday, February 8, 2022
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In one year, I had to part with 50 animals.
Beneath the pale rays of the large surface of Lunesse, Yohan Guedon cannot hide his annoyed expression. This farmer from the South of Charente, at the head of a farm with 200 sows, reviews the refrigerated stall of pork wrapped in cellophane: “At 1.69 euros per kilo, I don’t even understand how the intermediaries in the production chain can pay themselves. » The farmer is formal, “You have to add 25 cents more if you want to get into the nails”. Precisely, for this breeder from Édon, the daily life is more and more difficult. “The cost of raw materials has exploded, between 20 and 25%, not to mention the price of energy and transport. In one year, I had to part with 50 animals, raise 200,000 euros in cash and, eventually, I may have to consider parting with an employee if I can’t find a way to lower my charges. »
Adopted on October 18 by Parliament, the Egalim 2 project should nevertheless allow the setting to music of the new law aimed at “protect farmers’ earnings”. In particular by generalizing the written contracts between the latter and the companies that will transform their products, over a minimum of three years, taking production costs into account, from January and February 2022. The price is then set by the parties while respecting “a minimum limit and a maximum limit” : these values cannot move.
Only, the negotiations are dragging on at the national level and now the Leclerc group comes to wave its wand under the noses of its customers. “A baguette at 29 cents is intolerablebelieves Jean-Bernard Sallat. Not to mention the liter of milk at 60 cents. A promotion that lasts until the end of February, especially in Angoulême, right during the negotiation period. » The provocation too much for the local group of the FNSEA.
“The baguette, I buy it”
On the Leclerc side, the management plays the game of visiting its own departments, especially since the famous trophy could very well have been in the hands of the managers of Carrefour de Soyaux, Auchan de La Couronne or the Géant de Champniers, whose prices pulled down are pinned in the same way by local breeders. In front of the small demonstration, Simon Ricaud struggles to find the words. “We promise to escalate the problemassures the director. I understand the distress expressed, especially since my parents are farmers in Brittany. »
The word is then like a drop too many with the FNSEA: “Soon, no one will be able to say that his parents were farmers if the supermarkets continue to offer entry prices that do not correspond to the work carried out every day in the countryside of the department. » We should still ask the question to consumers: “At 29 cents a baguette, it’s not good but I’m buying it, given the state of the wallet”, confesses Guillaume, a spectator in the background, between two shelves of the supermarket.
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