After a strong summer, Carrefour Belgium CEO Geoffroy Gersdorff makes the case that his company’s supply problems will be resolved soon. He also questions the results of suppliers asking for price increases.
“The situation is normalising”
Carrefour has two big priorities in Belgium: increase sales and cut costs. The results during the past summer – despite difficult circumstances – are encouraging: “We see the first signs of a turnaround, but we are not nearly there yet”, the new top executive told business newspaper L’Echo in an interview.
He says the weak results of recent quarters are largely due to the impact of the closure of Kuehne + Nagel’s distribution centre in Nivelles. The CEO makes the case that the supply chain is back on track: “Today the situation has normalised, albeit not without difficulties. The effective closure of the Nivelles site is planned for the end of the year and the transfer of stores to the other warehouses is underway, without major disruptions.”
“Permanently in negotiations”
Carrefour is launching a major energy-saving plan and is asking the government for support measures for the independent store owners and the food sector, as it did during the pandemic. “The measures taken in the Netherlands, Germany or France are significantly higher than those in Belgium,” he said.
Manufacturers must also take responsibility, the CEO believes, now that the annual talks with suppliers are once again imminent. “This year, we have the impression that we were permanently in negotiations with most of our major suppliers, who are constantly coming back with requests to increase their prices. There have been a lot of tensions.”
He questions the results of most major manufacturers: “The margins of the major suppliers are on average five times higher than those of food retailers. I really hope that in the coming months we can return to a logic of profitable growth for both parties.”
