Signed by more than 30 organisations, the petition calls for French supermarkets to be required to make the healthiest foods accessible to everyone by selling them at cost price, with no mark-up.
Last February, in France, Familles Rurales, foodwatch and Secours Catholique – Caritas launched a petition to compel supermarkets to sell 100 food products at cost price (with no mark-up). More than 30 organisations – active across a range of fields, from the fight against poverty to public health, consumer protection to the environment – have already signed up.
The list of products in the petition includes everyday foods recommended by health and nutrition experts: fresh, frozen or tinned fruit and vegetables; grain-based products such as pasta, flour and bread; eggs, dairy products and fish; ingredients for cooking at home (oil, sugar, salt, spices) and foods for infants. It includes a significant proportion of organic foods and also aims to promote products of French origin.
The petition calls for this measure to be applied throughout France, including overseas territories, and for it to have no negative impact on the purchase prices of agricultural products. The aim is to make healthy foods more accessible, increase consumers' purchasing power while ensuring fair prices for farmers, and put an end to excessive profits for distributors. According to the organisations involved, these are concrete and urgent demands to improve purchasing power, diet and health.
This petition is sent daily, with new signatures, to Economics Minister Roland Lescure and Commerce Minister Serge Papin. The text states that one in three French people reports having to skip a meal due to lack of money, and that many have no access to the products recommended by the National Programme for Nutrition and Health. This situation leads to an increased risk of diet-related diseases (diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer) and costs the healthcare system billions of euros.
The petition highlights how in France five major supermarket chains control 80 per cent of the food market: since the end of 2023, several organisations have been denouncing the lack of transparency in food product pricing and the excessive profit margins on essential foods such as fruit and vegetables. These margins stand in the way of achieving public health goals and require a regulatory framework.