Supermarket leadership against the extension of the measure "family basket"

The reaction of the management of the organized retail food market (including supermarket owners) to the extension of the “Family Basket” measure can be characterized as negative.

Industry leaders, who wish to remain anonymous, have made no secret of their disappointment with the six-month extension of the measure, saying it has exhausted its momentum and is also ineffective in fighting inflation.

Businessmen argue that the vast majority of consumers have long turned their backs on this initiative due to the limited variety and choice of products. “Brands that could be barkers were never included in the ‘basket’, which was usually limited to private label products,” they note.

Retailers believe that since headline inflation is declining, the measure should be revised by the new leadership of the Ministry of Development, and not extended for a full six months. At worst, they say, an extension of two or three months would be the smarter approach at a time when prices are showing signs of slowing.

Expected that representatives of large supermarkets will be invited to give their opinion before final decisions are made. In addition, they recently created a new representative body, the Hellenic Supermarket Union (ESE), which includes all the well-known companies in the industry: Sklavenitis, AB Vassilopoulos, Masoutis, Lidl, METRO (My Market), PENTE (Galaxias) and Kritikos (who recently joined) .

According to people familiar with the matter, major industry players were even ready to discuss an informal price reduction deal with the government. In other words, to enter into a “gentlemen’s agreement”, as, for example, was done in France and as a result led to a sharp decrease in prices for a wide range of essential goods. For example, Carrefour began to cut prices by about 10% on average for 500 products.

A gentlemen’s agreement, as noted by the same sources, will allow for more efficient and targeted pricing policy, since they themselves know better how to allocate their resources.

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