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Press releases
Press releases 2004
12th March 2004 : Agreement on the price of bread baguettes : The Conseil de la concurrence hands down sanctions against the Fédération départementale de la Boulangerie et Boulangerie Pâtisserie de la Marne (1), along with 26 independent bakers
Following a referral by the Minister of Economy and Finance, the Conseil de la concurrence handed down sanctions against the Fédération départementale de la Boulangerie et Boulangerie Pâtisserie de la Marne, and also against 26 independent bakers, who had been found guilty of taking part in an agreement intended to raise the price of a bread baguette, during the period immediately preceding the adoption of the Euro. In view of the crucial personal role played by the Federation's Chairman in the inception and organisation of this agreement, and his deliberate and intentional breach of competition rules, the Conseil also decided to pass the case file on to the Procureur de la République (State Prosecutor's Office), to examine possible grounds for criminal charges.
Shortly before Euro notes and coins were introduced into circulation in France, the Fédération départementale de la Boulangerie et Boulangerie Pâtisserie de la Marne set out guidelines for raising the price of baguettes
At the Federation's annual general meeting on 23rd April 2001, the Chairman clearly advised members to apply a fixed and uniform rise in the price of a baguette, emphasising the impending increase in costs as a result of working time reductions and the adoption of the Euro.
In particular, he stated that the public authorities would be paying most careful attention to price stability issues during the official Euro adoption period (from 1st January 2002). He explained that given these circumstances, it would be extremely difficult to raise prices in order to cover the extra costs generated by the introduction of the 35-hour working week. The Chairman thus insisted on the need to anticipate the situation, by raising the price of a baguette to 4.90 Francs (0.75 Euros) as early as the second half of 2001.
Guidelines widely followed by bakers in the département
These pricing guidelines were actively passed on to the entire profession by the actions of trade union delegates (via telephone calls, visits, etc.). In particular, the delegates contacted bakers who were members of the Federation but who were not present at the general meeting, and also bakers who were non-members.
According to price analyses carried out in October 2001 by the investigative services of the DGCCRF on a cross-section of 36 bakers in the département, the recommended price rise was indeed put into effect, since almost 73% of bakers in the cross-section studied strictly adhered to the guidelines, by fixing the price of a baguette at 4.90 Francs. For the vast majority of bakers, this rise represented an increase of 30 Franc centimes and generally came into effect when outlets re-opened after the annual summer holidays.
Particularly serious practices
The Conseil took the view that these practices were all the more serious, since they had the effect of restricting competition on the market for the most widely sold product in bakeries. In this respect, the Conseil de la concurrence notes that bread is consumed in 94% of French families, and forms part of daily meals in 62% of households. On average, each person in France consumes 160 grams of bread every day.
Furthermore, the Conseil emphasised that it was totally unacceptable that a professional organisation, whose legally-appointed role is to defend the interests of a particular industry, should seek to restrict price competition between its members in such a deliberate manner. By recommending a uniform price for baguettes, the Federation effectively went beyond its appointed role of defending the industry. It engaged in a practice aimed at obstructing the free play of the market, with each bakery outlet being encouraged to fix the price of a baguette in line with the amount suggested by the Federation, rather than determining its price freely and independently on the basis of objective criteria.
(1) Federation of Bakers and Pastry makers in the Marne département
> See decision of the Paris Court of Appeal (26th October 2004)
© Autorité de la concurrence - Mars 2009
