On April 7th, Carrefour, Leclerc, Lidl, and Aldi were called to order by the DGCCRF (French fraud control authority) for misleading commercial practices involving non-compliance with regulations on the indication of the origin of their fruit and vegetables, and in some cases also on prices. They have 6 months to comply.
© Rene Van Den Berg | Dreamstime Illustration photo
Carrefour ordered to "cease its misleading commercial practices concerning the origin and prices of fruit and vegetables"
Between June 2024 and June 2025, the DGCCRF investigated several Carrefour stores across France, revealing recurring misleading commercial practices and "breaches of the rules governing the advertising of fruit and vegetables." In its paper and digital catalogs, Carrefour is accused of organizing confusion as to the origin of the fruit and vegetables actually available in its stores. The investigations revealed a lack of clarity regarding the origin of the fruit and vegetables on offer, with indications that were not very visible or difficult to associate with the products. Anomalies were also found in the promotional prices displayed, which sometimes differed from those actually applied at checkout.
The GALEC LECLERC cooperative is "to provide consumers with precise and unambiguous information on the origin of fruit and vegetables"
In the case of Galec Leclerc, the DGCCRF pointed the finger at information on the origin of fruit and vegetables that was "unintelligible, imprecise, ambiguous, and using characters that were difficult to read" in its publications and promotional catalogs. For example, either the origin was not indicated, or several possible origins were mentioned for the same product, or the mention of the origin appeared far from the product or on a different page with a reference sign that was difficult to distinguish.
ALDI "ordered to cease its misleading commercial practices"
The DGCCRF criticized Aldi for indicating alternative origins, using a non-compliant font (size and character) to indicate the country of origin, and "indicating the country of origin by referring the information to the bottom of the page, which is not in the same visual field as the essential characteristics of the fruit or vegetable." These facts were observed in the paper and online leaflets.
LIDL "ordered to cease its illegal practices"
The enforcement officers found that Lidl was "organizing confusion as to the origin of the fruit and vegetables actually available in their stores," in its paper and online leaflets (font size and visibility of information relating to origin, indication of multiple origins), as well as in a radio advert (lack of information on origins).
For more information:
economie.gouv.fr/dgccrf
