in principle followed by comments from the retailers within a reasonable period of time. In fact, most of the retailers send back their template of their annual agreement ignoring the fact that, legally, the general sales conditions of each supplier should be the sole basis for the negotiations. The annual agreements must be entered into no later than 1 March of the subsequent year. Time is therefore of the essence. In principle, no amendment can be signed thereafter without a justifying factor. The regulations that freeze commercial conditions for one year in order to protect suppliers proved to be a trap in the context of cost inflation as the retailers have been reluctant to renegotiate prices. How are economic conditions affecting negotiations this year? The current economic context adds pressure and constraints to the commercial negotiations. Logistic issues, the cost of raw materials (both agricultural and industrial) and the inflationary costs of energy, packaging and transportation are inevitably at the heart of the discussions and impacting prices. THOUGHT LEADER 65 The immediate delisting of the supplier’s products is the ultimate threat raised by retailers during negotiations, and this practice is almost never challenged by suppliers in courts.
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