Here in France, wholesale prices for grocery products are typically negotiated at the start of the year between the agricultural and supermarket sectors. This year, those negotiations wrapped up just as the war in Iran was getting underway. Now, with the cost of fuel and fertilizer soaring due to the blockage of the Strait of Hormuz, the government is calling for a dialogue between the two sectors on how to bear those costs, and how much of them to pass on to consumers. Meanwhile in the south of France, farmers have launched their own supermarket in a bid to deliver the freshest produce to consumers at a lower markup.
