Carrefour CEO Alexandre Bompard says that due to high inflation, French customers have started to give up fish, buy cheaper meat and give up organic products, according to Reuters.

Bompard says that the debate among economists about when inflation will peak before it starts to fall is unnecessary, and that what matters is the perspective of consumers, who have now come to buy products as cheaply as possible.

“You make a choice in favor of the lowest prices. I will not buy beef, but the cheapest pork. I will not buy fish. I will not buy organic products,” he explained.

“This phenomenon is here, it is deep and has gained momentum in recent weeks,” Bompard also told a meeting of the Medef federation, France’s largest employers’ association.

He also stated that both Carrefour and its competitors have begun to adapt to the new mindset of consumers with advertising campaigns that “freeze” the prices of products in the daily basket.

Record inflation in Europe

Inflation reached historic highs in Europe in 2022, first due to pressure on supply chains due to the COVID-19 pandemic over the past two years, and then due to the astronomical increase in energy prices due to the war in Ukraine, which is now in its 188th year. day.

In France, Carrefour’s home market, inflation reached 6.8% in July, the highest level since the early 1990s, when French authorities began using the EU’s methodology to calculate it.

However, the French government has taken more extensive measures than other eurozone countries to remove the inflationary burden from the shoulders of consumers, limiting the prices of natural gas and electricity.

The executive in Paris has also decided to increase the salaries of civil servants and increase pensions, while providing subsidies for the poor.