“You suffer but Carrefour fills its pockets”: hit-and-run operation by farmers in a hypermarket near Montpellier

De nombreuses bouteilles ont été sorties du rayon vins. ML – GR

La Coordination rurale a mené une opération coup de poing à l'hypermarché Carrefour Grand Sud de Lattes, ce mardi 20 février. Les agriculteurs ont trouvé de nombreux produits à l'étiquette trompeuse.

Around ten farmers from Rural Coordination and non-union members took over the shelves of Carrefour Grand Sud Lattes, this Tuesday, February 20, at 10 a.m. They filled several carts with poorly labeled foodstuffs to raise awareness consumers to this problem.

First stop at the vegetable section. "These pot-au-feu are marked with French origin and there is even an Occitan cross on the packaging but we realize that the onions and carrots come from ;#39;Spain", the farmers protest.

"For red cabbage, grated carrots or squash in pieces, sold vacuum-packed, no origin is mentioned."

Next stop at the butcher's shop. "We have identical trays of chicken but some were raised in France and others in Belgium. This is not fraud but deception by the store." Right next to it, a large banner praises the French origin of chickens.

"The labels are not ours but those of the manufacturers"

"We work 95% with French meat, but for poultry, we need larger volumes, explains the head of the butchery department, Jean-Marc Luczkiewicz. This is what leads our suppliers to go to Belgium. The labels are not ours but those of the manufacturers."

"You are also responsible since you sell products that are misleading to the consumer", a farmer calls out. “I'm at the end of the chain and I'm suffering,” replies the manager. "You suffer but Carrefour fills its pockets", continues the farmer. "We are put under terrible pressure for the traceability of products, and when they arrive at your home, we no longer know where they come from." "We don'we understand nothing, especially since it's written very small and'we don'have no time to read everything' ;quot;, intervenes a customer.

"It's just transformed into France"

In the wine section, bottles with very French names come from Spain or the European Union. There, the problem is different. "These are countries that are not subject to the same standards as us, we are faced with unfair competition", explains a wine grower.

Last stop at the canned goods section. The Castelnaudary cassoulet looks appetizing. "But look, the pork is of French or Spanish origin, and the beans have no origin." For Basquaise chicken, it's definitely "the peppers, onions and garlic come from the European Union”. As for the garnished sauerkraut, " duck sleeves are of EU origin, and Toulouse sausage comes from France or Spain. There's even a French flag on the box even though it's just transformed into France."

Before leaving the premises, the farmers left five well-filled carts in front of the central cash register of the hypermarket.

“We need real political will”

"Large distribution is part of the problem, but so are state services, believes Arnaud Poitrine, from Rural Coordination 34. This hypermarket was recently inspected by the prefect (on January 30). We see the result. There needs to be real political will to limit abuses. I had twelve inspections on my farm last year."

"The other problem is that distributors are asking us for ever greater price reductions, while the price of our raw materials is increasing. At the same time, hypermarkets are increasing their margins. They have to stop bleeding us otherwise there will be no farmers. I am a wine grower on 22 hectares in Cabrières with two employees and I am on the RSA."

"We have aid for apprentices but the State took ten months to pay them. We always have to take out cash loans to operate."

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