The Finance Ministry of France is jawboning major supermarket chains to reduce margins.  Consumers are faced with an annual 13 percent rate in inflation in food cost that will extend through the first half of 2023.  Bruno Le Maire, Finance Minister, noted, “The State must do its share, but retailers must also do more.”  The plan is for retailers to cut margins on a basket of 50 essential products.  Deep discounters, Lidl and Systeme U, have agreed to the voluntary initiative.  Larger chains including Carrefour, Casino and Auchan have yet to sign on to the program, although they have introduced voluntary price reductions on meat, fish, fruit and vegetables.

During late 2022, the Finance Ministry investigated retailers over margins without finding evidence of excessive charges.