Supermarkets under fire

JUAN ROIG, president of the Mercadona supermarket chain, recently introduced the New Economic Forum held in Valencia.

Days earlier Ione Belarra, Social Rights minister in the PSOE­Unidas Podemos coalition governing Spain, called Roig “a pitiless capitalist” who was currently “lining his pockets.”

Belarra, speaking in Zaragoza at a meeting of Podemos, the party to which she belongs, was not representing the central government at the time, but her declaration immediately became a national issue.

Presenting the Forum, Roigwhose supermarket chain has a 25 per cent market quota and employed 93,500 people in 2021 ­ maintained that business­owners gener­ ated wealth and well­being.

“If those who manage the businesses know how to run them, there is prosperity for all. If not, there is confrontation,” Roig said.

On leaving, he was besieged by reporters asking him for his opinion of Belarra’s comments but he declined to answer their questions. Smiling cheerfully and repeating a polite

“Thank you, thank you” he made a speedy exit without giving anything away.

According to annual reports published in 2021, the last available year, Mercadona had a 2.7 per cent profit margin, with Carrefour reporting 4.6 per cent and Lidl 3.1 per cent, compared with the sector’s 2.3 per cent average nationally.

Initially the big chains absorbed the increases but have now been forced to pass them on to the consumer.

The sector pointed out that higher prices have not brought more profits, particularly for own­label products, where increased sales mean a bigger margin for the manufacture rather than the distributor.