Good morning, Alexandre Bompard. Good morning. You are the Chairman and CEO of Carrefour, you have been at the helm since 2017, with 14,000 stores in over 40 countries. We will talk about purchasing power this morning, but first I want to ask if the snow is affecting supplies? Many heavy trucks are stuck, not allowed on some roads. Have these weather events started to impact your store supplies?
It is a difficult day, first for citizens struggling with transportation, for public safety agents, and for commerce due to disrupted logistics. Some roads are cut, there are driving bans. We had information about the snow, so we are anticipatory and mobilize when possible. We put more trucks on the road. Store supply is assured today, but the day will be complicated.
So it could be tomorrow or the day after that there might be some consequences?
Yes, there could be some consequences tomorrow on fresh products from the west, but as of now, stores are supplied completely normally. There is no shortage this morning. It's working, but we are in a particular episode with particular purchases. Customers are buying wood pellets, electric heaters. We see a shift toward cold weather supplies. There is anticipation before and then today will likely be quiet. Supply is somewhat disrupted, but today stores are supplied. Tomorrow might be more delicate because of today's driving bans. But overall, it holds. You can find everything.
And Alexandre, we'll come back to the issue of eggs because we've seen some shortages in certain regions. But I also want to ask you about Mercosur. We are really at the moment, it's this week that it's playing out. Mercosur could be adopted, and some countries are happy. France is crying, and you? From a commerce point of view, as the head of stores, Mercosur for you, is it good or not? If I ask you as the boss of Carrefour, what is the impact of Mercosur adoption?
The impact is quite limited. Why? Because regardless of whether the text is adopted or not, the decision of Carrefour and my colleagues is to source almost exclusively, depending on the sector, in French products. 100% of poultry is French, 97% of beef is French, 100% of pork is French. We source locally. I am also in Brazil, and there I also source local products. So for my activity, sourcing locally, there is no major change. However, it is important to negotiate further. There are important safeguard clauses to negotiate and reciprocity clauses on standards, which are very important for farmers. But for us, the consequence is relatively limited.
You mention meat. Dominique Schellcher, the head of Système U, made a commitment not to buy products from the Mercosur treaty. Do you take the same commitment?
On our branded products, I don't need to make a commitment because I do it. My goal is 100% French, and in Brazil, 100% Brazilian. That's the general philosophy. There will be no change.
There will be no change on that, but you also heard the Minister of Agriculture announce a ban on imports of South American products that do not meet our own standards. She is not talking about meat but about fruits and vegetables: avocados, mangoes, guavas, grapes, potatoes that could have pesticide residues banned in France. Do you have any of these products that could have residues? And how can you ensure they don't?
In two ways. First, what products are we talking about? Mangoes from January to April? They come from South America. Avocados from January to April? They come from South America. Grapes from January to April? They come from South America. We already control for residues before the decree, and 99.9% had no trace of residues. It will be 100% after the decree. There are controls by health authorities and we do our own quality controls. If there is a problem, we send the product back or discard it and seek compensation. So the impact of the decree is very marginal.
So when I listen to you, it means the decree is mainly to please farmers, but in fact there is not a huge impact?
I don't think the impact will be major. Yes, mainly psychological, to try to calm farmers' anger.
Farmers' anger, a year and a half ago, was also directed at you, at large retailers, with blockades. Is that the case today? Do you feel threatened?
No, the relationship with the agricultural world is better than a few years ago. There is more understanding. We are the first partner of the agricultural world, with 35,000 producers and breeders in Carrefour supply chains. We work with them constantly. The relationship has improved, we understand each other better. There can be points of tension, we are an easy target, but overall the relationship is calmer, with more co-construction.
So you are confident, including for the blockades planned for Thursday and Friday? You don't feel in the crosshairs?
No, I don't think the central issue today is large retailers. The subjects are Mercosur, the DNC (a source of worry and suffering for farmers), and the adoption of the CAP reform. These are at the heart of farmers' concerns.
At the crossroads of agriculture and consumption: eggs. Eggs are missing from some shelves, visibly in tension. Our colleagues from Nord Littoral and Nord Éclair talk about egg shortages at many retailers in Calais region. They explain it by growing demand for cheaper protein than meat, but not enough eggs produced in France. Is there indeed a tension on eggs?
First, it's an interesting subject: demand for cheaper proteins. We are exactly in the transformation of consumption due to growing impoverishment. Eggs are a revealing indicator. There is very strong demand. We source almost exclusively French products. There have been crises in the sector, like bird flu, so it's a sector under tension. But we don't have shortages at our stores right now. It can happen in a store, but not currently. However, it is a sector under tension because of strong demand.
You mentioned transformation of consumption. You previously spoke of 'deconsumption' by the French. Is that behind us? We just went through Christmas. What did you observe? Are French consumers still extremely careful, or were they able to treat themselves?
