The last few weeks have been quite busy for both the retail sector and producers, due to a decision taken by government to start pushing through an economic reform process speedily.

The government’s eagerness to alter the rules between retailers and suppliers has given us all plenty to talk about. The crux of the government’s new bill is the possibility for retailers to renegotiate contracts with their suppliers throughout the year - at the moment, price negotiations can only take place once a year. In the corridors of the French National Assembly, mounting pressure and arguments mean that the politician in charge of presenting the bill threatened to quit if the renegotiation system was not withdrawn from the proposed text.

The government finally decided to postpone this part of the bill, and to present it separately next spring. Meanwhile, wholesalers have been fighting another part of the bill: the proposal that cash & carry traders should be able to sell products below their purchase price, which they believe would create unfair competition. In this instance, the wholesalers lost out, but there has been some good news for the wider fresh produce trade, from the French minister of agriculture, Michel Barnier.

A recent survey showed that obesity among the young was a national concern, and the fresh produce industry claimed a higher consumption of fruit and vegetables was one solution - but the problem is that produce is not always totally accessible to consumers, either because of price or inadequate information.

The industry has therefore asked for better “accessibility” to its products. The word “accessibility” has become extremely fashionable these days, but opinions on what it should mean differ depending on which part of the industry you work in.

Barnier recently met with producers, wholesalers and retailers to build a programme around the concept. As always, caution should be exercised when it comes to what ministers say - this is, after all, part of the political game.

But this time it seems there is “some grain to mould”, as a famous French unionist used to say. Barnier told the industry that

€2 million will be dedicated to raising the brand image of fresh produce and helping consumers find what they want. An ad hoc committee has been set up to handle the budget, and for the time being, everybody seems happy - not a bad state of affairs with Christmas approaching. Everybody, that is, except maybe importers - who, for some strange reason, were not invited to Barnier’s meeting...