France’s small to medium-sized food makers could axe up to 4,000 jobs as a result of the failure to incorporate food commodity hikes in price increases negotiated with retailers, the country’s industry body has warned.

Speaking during a video conference, broadcast by the Les Echos newspaper, Jean-René Buisson, president of industry body ANIA, said the negotiations “had gone badly” for the majority of firms, who since the global economic crisis were already operating at very low margins.
 
“We estimate that 20%-30% of firms will have to restructure and make staff redundant and for some of them, their very survival is under threat,” Buisson said. He estimated that between 3,000 and 4,000 posts could be under threat.