The commitment by Europe's largest food retailer not to sell any meat produced by Mercosur has angered Brazilian authorities and the industry.
Europe's largest food retailer Carrefour said on Tuesday it regretted that a pledge to keep South American meat off its shelves in France was perceived as "calling into question its partnership with Brazilian agriculture."
Carrefour said in a statement that it sourced the meat it sold in France almost exclusively from France and the meat it sold in Brazil exclusively from Brazil, adding that it would continue to do so.
Carrefour said in its statement: "We have never opposed French agriculture to Brazilian agriculture, as our two beloved countries share a deep love for the land, its cultivation and the quality of food... We are proud to be the leading partner and a historical promoter of Brazilian agriculture."
In this regard, it has emerged that Carrefour CEO Alexandre Bompard plans to publicly apologize to the Brazilian government to settle the controversy over his commitment to stop the sale of South American meat in France, according to several Brazilian media outlets in recent hours.
The French ambassador to Brazil, Emmanuel Lenain, plans to meet with the Brazilian Minister of Agriculture, Carlos Favaro, to issue an apology and send a message of calm regarding the quality of Brazilian meat.
The move comes after meat companies such as JBS and Minerva decided to retaliate by suspending sales to Carrefour in Brazil. The French supermarket has more than 1,000 outlets in Brazil, which generate more than 20% of its global sales, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Carrefour's plan to apologize was first reported by newspaper Valor Económico . The French embassy in Brazil is acting as an intermediary to help Carrefour retract its statement and resolve the dispute, the minister said in an interview with TV Globo on Monday.
Following the meeting with the minister, the French chain plans to publish a statement in France and Brazil, in which it will also argue that the company has always sold only French meat in its country of origin.
Bompard's commitment last week not to sell any meat produced by Mercosur has angered Brazilian authorities and the sector. The decision comes amid protests by French cattle farmers against a possible free trade agreement between the European Union and the bloc made up of Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay.
Agriculture Minister Carlos Favaro has backed the decision of Brazilian beef producers to suspend sales to the local unit of Carrefour. "We support the industry's reaction; if Brazil is not good enough to sell its beef to Carrefour in France, it is not good enough to sell it to Carrefour in Brazil," he said.
Following the publication of Carrefour's apology in France, the Brazilian headquarters expects that the normalization of supply in its stores will occur in the short term, according to a relevant fact sent by the company after an apology from the group's headquarters for statements against meat produced in Brazil.
"The Carrefour Brasil group is working intensively to resolve the situation with suppliers and expects supply to normalize in the short term to mitigate the impact on consumers," the retailer said.
