Good evening, thank you for joining us tonight. The man everyone wants to know about: CEO of Carrefour, chairman of the Federation of Commerce and Distribution. First of all, if you would, Alexandre Bompard, regarding the heatwave, this sixth day of very high heat. It's starting to get a little better. What have you observed in your stores when it's hot? People buy much less, they stay home, they say they do their shopping—what do they buy? What have you seen?
First, when the weather is nice in spring or summer, in our business, that's good. So it's a nice spring, a beautiful start to summer, that's positive. When we are in a period of high heat like these last few days, we see fewer customers in stores. And what do they buy overall? Water, water, water. So we have record water sales numbers, I think we haven't reached that in a very long time. We sell ice cream, fruits, alcoholic products, non-alcoholic beers. We sell less meat, less charcuterie, and so on, and we sell fans. So it's consumption that adapts to these weather conditions. We are a sector that is less affected than others, but obviously we see very strong variations within categories.
Alexandre Bompard, we'll talk in a moment about the political and budgetary situation, the impact it can have on the business climate, since this morning on our colleagues at RTL, you let out a sort of outburst. We'll come back to that in a moment. But first, a more general question to set the scene. You have, in your position, a kind of barometer and thermometer of the French state of mind. What does this barometer and thermometer tell you about their consumption and state of mind? What do you observe in your stores?
I would say that since the beginning of the year, we see more positive signals for consumption. Two illustrations: volumes that were very low have risen slightly, and the quality of consumption has improved. Organic products have started to rise again after years of depression, fruits and vegetables. So we see that and also pleasure purchases have returned, they had completely disappeared. They were really down. They are now rising. These are somewhat positive signs due mainly to the fact that food inflation is around 0 to 1% and that the real purchasing power of the French has recovered by about 2.5%. So for the French, little by little, there is a return to pleasure purchases and more volume.
And so what you're saying seems to go against the idea that the situation is very difficult. You say 'No, it's a little better, volumes are a little better, quality is a little better, but obviously we have crazy precautionary savings in our country. We're around 19%, that's 5 points above the European average. There are behaviors of deprivation. A third of French people still deprive themselves and continue to deprive themselves, and there is worry. But to try to outline a slightly different trend from 2023 and 2024, I had spoken on this set about a 'tsunami of deconsumption'. Yes, we have first signals, I hope they continue, confirm, amplify: a slight recovery and a desire to indulge and a little more confidence, as if the French are gradually getting used to this permanent climate of crisis, this succession of international and national crises. They say to themselves, 'We're quite resilient, our purchasing power is a bit better, we consume a bit more.' And we'll talk in a moment about this instability and its effects on consumption and the French. But just before that, on inflation: you said food inflation is very low, between 0 and 1%. How will that evolve in the weeks and months ahead? Michel Leclerc had this expression, he said 'I'm going to smash inflation.' Can you reassure those watching us tonight who still have the trauma of hyperinflation from two years ago? In the weeks and months ahead, should it be okay?
Yes, I believe so. I believe it because fundamentally, we all have strong competition among ourselves for the lowest price. We fight to get these prices. We at Carrefour have lowered prices on 6,000 products by more than 10% over the past 18 months. Pasta has fallen by more than 10%, yogurts by more than 10%, olive oils by more than 10%. So we have 6,000 products that we lowered by more than 10%. This is a fight we wage collectively at Carrefour very strongly. Competitors sometimes do a bit more than us, sometimes we do more. Over these 18 months, we have lowered prices the most. Overall, I think we can be confident that prices have stabilized. We still need to be very cautious because recent geopolitical events have shown we can't predict everything. But overall, French consumers can say to themselves, 'I have an environment of very limited inflation and price increases, which gradually helps forget the enormous trauma of two years of hyperinflation.'
That is indeed important for the French, their state of mind. I listened carefully to what you said this morning on RTL, and I sensed you were quite vehement about the impact that public discourse can have on their state of mind. You said, 'We're fed up with these trial balloons on the budget.' You said you're fed up with this 'tax idea contest.' So essentially, if the French are anxious and wait-and-see, it's the politicians' fault. Is that it?
We are in many European countries. We are the most global retail group. In other European countries, consumption has rebounded much more strongly. Yet, in other European countries, did they experience Covid? Yes. Did they experience hyperinflation? Yes. Did they experience the Ukraine crisis? Yes. Did they experience the arrival of Trump and unpredictability? Yes. So the only difference is that they experienced the same crises but they don't have such an anxiety-inducing political climate. For us, it's been exactly one year, I think Sunday will be the second round anniversary of the legislative elections. For a year we've been talking about uncertainty, new dissolution, change of government, and especially a permanent contest of tax ideas. There is not a day without a member of government, a parliamentarian, or a former prime minister telling us their ideas for raising taxes in France. You have to understand that for the consumer—we know consumers well, they are in our stores every day and they talk to our teams every day. When consumers hear about tax increases, whatever the tax, they hear what is coming and they tell themselves they must save. The translation of that: we have a savings rate in our country that is 5 points higher than the rest of Europe, 15 points higher than the United States. That says the level of anxiety of the French, the anxiety about tomorrow, and it is fed by that.
I hear what you're saying, but at the same time, when we have 40 billion euros in savings to make, is it taboo to think that at some point maybe we need to get contributions from those who can? Because when you talk about a 'tax idea contest', it means absolutely no touching taxes. If we ask the French to make efforts, why not ask large companies, for example Carrefour, to say 'Look, Carrefour is a large company that is doing well, that has made efforts to increase its profitability, well it should contribute to the recovery effort.'
