Toulouse: why are supermarket shelves still empty?
In many supermarket products, in Toulouse as in the whole of France, some everyday products have almost disappeared from the shelves. These rarefactions are linked to “a conjuncture of facts”.
By going to your usual supermarket, you probably realized that many products were missing from the shelves. Sandwich bread, oil, crisps, paper… No brand escapes stock shortages, like Carrefour Pibrac, a few kilometers north of Toulouse. “We find something to eat but I have never seen so many missing even during the Covid. Above all, dairy products and sandwich bread are missing,” says Katell, a customer at the supermarket. “I have noticed that for some time now there have been fewer products in all the stores I frequent,” Carine also notes. As a precaution, I sometimes take two products instead of one, such as oil and mustard for example. »
In the cheese section, Alain quickly makes his choice: there are only two boxes of raclette left. Despite everything, the retiree is not worried: “We still have enough to eat. Young people have more reason to worry but they will adapt, they will have no choice. »
A social movement
By way of explanation, signs indicate that “the current context produces tensions on the supply of our stores”. Department heads explain for their part that certain shortages are linked to a warehouse strike last week. If the Carrefour group did not wish to comment on the problem of stock shortages, it nevertheless confirms that a social movement did indeed take place a few days ago. On September 22, “management proposed a 2.5% salary increase on November 1, 2022, i.e. +8.3% since August 2021”, specifies the group.
How can we explain that so many products are affected by stockouts? Grégory Vouters, president of the Federation of Commerce in Occitania and director of a supermarket, explains that the signs “are subject to the arbitration of suppliers”. “We can order anything we want, if we don’t get delivered, we don’t get delivered! »
“We have never experienced such a situation”
This is also confirmed by Thierry Desouches of Système U. “The usual rupture rate is 2%, today it is 10%. We have never experienced such a situation and it concerns the entire profession. These ruptures are linked to a conjuncture of very diverse facts. ” Among the reasons given: the lack of drivers, the strain on packaging such as cardboard and aluminum, the closing or decommissioning of certain factories, and bad harvests… “It is also the consequence of the war in Ukraine. We try to sort through raises and offer promotions but we don’t have a magic wand. Today, consumers are turning to economical products and consuming less fresh produce. »
A recent study by the LSA/NielsenIQ barometer confirms that “radius breaks are always more numerous”. According to consultant Roxane Hamel, “the rupture rate again reached 5.7% over the last four weeks and thus increased by 1.7 points compared to the same period last year. Over the year, this rupture rate increased by 4.8%. The gross shortfall for hypermarkets and supermarkets is expected to reach 4.1 billion euros.
The products concerned
According to the LSA/NielsenIQ barometer published a few days ago, among the products whose “breakage rate has increased the most” compared to last year, we find products for fire, dressings and sauces, and waters. flat and gassy. The liquids sector would be the most impacted “with a rupture rate which reached 7.2%”. “Sales of water and other non-alcoholic beverages were boosted by this summer’s heat waves, causing availability tensions in these categories, particularly flat water. For this product, turnover is “up 28% compared to the same period last year. This rupture rate is therefore “up by +2.2 points over the last 4 weeks compared to the same period last year”. On the other hand, certain products such as toothbrushes, razors, or even shower gels, have the rupture rate having decreased the most compared to last year.