France’s farmers union has called for a weekend of retail disruption to protest against the lack of transparency in food manufacturing and retailing and to call for higher farm-gate prices.
Dominique Barrau, secretary general of the FNSEA, France’s largest farmers’ union, denounced “the pressure exerted by multiple retailers” and “their unwillingness to shed any light on the margins earned in milk, beef, pigmeat or fresh produce”.
“French dairy farmers need to earn EUR320 (US$449.15) a tonne for their milk just to stay in business,” the FNSEA told just-food. This is equivalent to 32 cents for a litre of branded UHT milk, retailing at EUR1.
Since the FNSEA agreed to a national figure of EUR280 per tonne last week, farmers face losses of at least five cents per litre across the year, the union said.
The FNSEA has therefore called for a fresh round of industrial action starting on Thursday night (11 June).

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By GlobalDataIts members will also blockade retail distribution depots between Thursday and Sunday.