Agri-food: The “super-margins” of multinationals four times higher than those of the sector

Coca-Cola, Danone or L'Oréal... The giants supplying supermarkets record net margins "nearly four times higher" than the average for the national agri-food sector, according to a study published this Monday at the initiative of distributors. According to data collected by the Asterès firm for the Federation of Commerce and Distribution (FCD), these multinationals generated an average net margin of 13% (2017-2025), compared to 3.5% for the entire French agri-food industry (2018-2024). The tree of multinationals and the forest of SMEs Released shortly before the start of the annual negotiations, this survey aims to expose the blatant financial gap between global giants and human-sized companies.

“We are always presented with the industrial bloc as a rather homogeneous whole […], but we can clearly see that it is a totally heterogeneous group,” underlines Judith Jiguet, general director of the FCD. “Very large companies and multinationals hide behind small ones” to make a speech “saying “we are all doing badly, we cannot invest””, says the manager, calling for “to confront them with their responsibilities and their strategic choices”. The report also observes that between 2022 and 2025, “in the midst of an inflationary crisis”, the panel redistributed 94% of its net profits to shareholders.

Privileged shareholders “This means that listed multinationals, suppliers of mass distribution, are resolutely oriented towards shareholder remuneration rather than towards investment”, conclude the analysts, after having scrutinized 33 of the 53 multinationals used to negotiations. From December 1st to March 1st, brands and manufacturers set the prices of products on the shelves each year, with the exception of private labels and fresh produce. While a preparatory exchange is being held today, the FCD had warned that it “will not participate […] until two fundamental requirements have been recognized and shared by all”: a separate status for SMEs and real “transparency” on the cost of agricultural materials.

These multinationals concentrate around 75% of the value of discussions.

Machine-translated from French