I reproduce here the press release of the Agricultural Cooperation. Time to get some stash of cans and lentils in your cupboards.
There it is all said.
I do not have nothing to add.
And everything is so predictable.
Stars in government. stars.
Carlos Sannat
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Since 2021, the food sector is experiencing an inflationary crisis unprecedented in more than 40 years in all costs of agricultural and agri-food production. Added to this situation is the concern about the availability of resources of raw materials and labor to process them, thus threatening the continuity of productive activities. Faced with this alarming observation; it is urgent to react to guarantee the food security of our Nation.
The risk of production stoppages and bankruptcies in agri-food industries has never been so real. No company is spared from this great crisis that affects the price and availability of inputs (paralysis of 50% of the production capacity of ammonium nitrate in Europe), raw materials (-50% of the volume of bean production and -4 % of milk production volume), energy (+40% cumulative increase since 2021 for the price of natural gas and electricity) and packaging (+40% for plastics and paper-cardboard).
Among all these increases, energy is the largest expense item for companies. The energy bills are now such that they cannot be absorbed by the cooperatives. If we want to continue eating French, we urgently need:
The recognition of agricultural and agri-food activities as responding to a mission of general interest,
The revision of the eligibility criteria to take charge of the energy bill of the companies,
Establishing a more efficient energy shield,
Indexation of energy costs in food pricing.
At the same time, we will have to act at the level of trade negotiations to enable the essential consideration of the inflation of food production costs in the pricing of products. This is why we necessarily ask ourselves:
Modification of the timing of trade negotiations: it is necessary to be able to discuss prices again according to inflation or deflation of production costs,
The establishment of a moratorium on logistics sanctions,
The consideration of industrial costs in the evolution of product prices through indicators on the different cost items (energy in the first place but also packaging costs, logistics, etc.).
“The situation is serious: the historical situation of production cost inflation that we are experiencing is a real threat to the ability of companies to maintain their productive activities. We must react urgently, the food security of our Nation depends on it. To tackle this insurmountable wall, we must act as a priority to ensure the availability of energy for food companies and limit its cost. says Dominique Charge, president of La Coopération Agricole. “While we have built our supply chains on a stable and abundant world, the shift to a world marked by instability and likely scarcity forces us to shift the paradigm. It is in this sense that La Coopération Agricole hopes that, in addition to the future agrarian orientation law, a sovereignty pact can be concluded between the actors in the food chain, public administrations and consumers. The collective commitment induced by the signing of this Pact will guarantee the maintenance of a resistant, long-lasting and sustainable French food chain. “, he continues.