On an empty shelf, a sign warns with a legend: “This gondola protects your pockets”. A little further down clarifies this “The supply is affected by excessive increases by the supplier. We apologize for the inconvenience“. Regarding a gap in a bakery aisle, another leading chain informs its customers that “the absence of products is due to non-delivery by the supplier” and mentions the name of a company.
Both notices concernn the fierce struggle that erupted in the mass consumption sector due to the wave of rebranding unleashed after the end of the Fair Prices program, which focused on large supermarket chains. Now manufacturers are trying to catch up on prices due to the “agreements” imposed during Kirchnerism, which allowed them to gain market share at the expense of self-service shops, warehouses and neighborhood shops.
In the supermarket They refuse increases ranging from 35 to 100% that manufacturers send them to reduce the price gap between channels, which is on average 45%, “with peaks of 90% in some key products, such as soft drinks and oils”, explained a source from one of the major chains. Those lower values”it has allowed us to recover a 12% stake in the last two years“, to the detriment of local independent businesses. The war has just begun.
From a beverage company, he recognized Clarion that in reality They try to balance prices across channels. They recite by heart the delay accumulated after years of rules and controls (applied exclusively to large chains) and maximum limits on increases, well below inflation, established by the last Secretary of Commerce, the massist Matías Tombolini.
Supermarkets are protesting because their suppliers “prices are flying wildly” and they assure it today “We set the limits and not the Government because people don’t validate the increases”“It is true that in recent weeks there have been very strong mark-ups, up to 100% on some products, to compensate for delays. The idea is the price difference among chains with warehouses and self-service they range from 5 to 10%, which is logical. Because in addition the chains have other advantages, such as payment for purchases within 30, 60 and up to 90 days”, underline the suppliers.
The discussions began shortly before the arrival of the new government, led by the libertarian Javier Milei. But they raise the tone as the days pass, with an uncertain ending. There is no unanimous position among manufacturers on this topic. Some believe it They cannot make up the entire backlog at once and plan to do so gradually. Others are more drastic and They have decided not to deliver the goods if a chain does not accept the new price lists. “We have already had supply difficulties, and now these”, complain the supermarkets.
Nonetheless, for now they are stuck in the position of rejecting increases that they consider very high in the midst of the inflationary surge that has caused the end of Fair Prices, the devaluation of the official dollar (which jumped from 367 to 800 dollars) and the increase in fuel prices, among other things. For these reasons private consultancy firms calculate it December inflation will be around 30%.
The objective of supermarkets is not to lose the competitiveness achieved in recent years (having the lowest prices on the market) so as not to give up participation. “We are willing to reduce the gap a little, but keep it between 30 and 40% below warehouses and self-service stores,” they reason. Others mischievously explain that the gap between channels has increased because “manufacturers have compensated for the delay in the Fair Prices program by giving more importance to warehouses and supermarkets”, they justify.
Producers, for their part, say they want to put an end to the illogical practices that have generated price distortions. “It was very common for grocery stores and independent businesses to source from the supermarket and not from wholesalers.which is normal.” He also says that “some chains have accepted the new prices, others are doing so little by little and others are still negotiating”.
In any case, the mass consumption industry (food, drinks, personal hygiene and cleaning products) is preparing to face a year characterized by high inflation, a drop in consumption due to the loss of income purchase and the abolition of price controls, which functioned as demand. anabolic.
“Faced with a highly probable scenario of declining volumes, we aim to increase our range of action, with the opening of physical stores and the expansion of the eCommerce network, to acquire new customers and compensate for the decline in sales”, Juan Pablo Quiroga, communications director of Changomás, the chain owned by Francisco de Narváez, explained to Clarín.
Source: Clarin
