In Europe, we are suffering an aberration. While doctors say that good nutrition is the best preventive healthcare, Europe regulates against products that would be better for the health of consumers, farmers, and future generations: organic Farmers’ varieties. We have decided to go outside the law to change it.?

It is a campaign for public health, to change a European law regulating our food. No restrictions concerning healthcare or Pharma communications applied.

Carrefour launched the BlackSupermarket, a campaign that defies the law to change the law.

We created BlackSupermarket installations in our stores nationally to sell our illegal range of cereals, vegetables, and fruits. We leveraged our first media, our stores, where 3 millions people shop everyday, to enable people to taste these deliciously illegal varieties. Our call to action to change the law was simple: we asked people to buy the illegal products and sign our petition on Change.org. Print, illegal outdoor, web films and instore BlackSupermarkets revealed the absurdity of the law, and turned our illegal producers into national heroes. Against the law, we signed a 5-year supply contract with them, and invited KOLs to witness the signature.

Against powerful lobbies working behind closed doors, we chose provocation before the eyes of all, to rally the public and be heard up to Brussels where decisions are made.

The campaign prelaunched on September 19th, with an « illegal dinner » inviting KOLs to discover the illegal varieties, witness the signature of the illegal 5-year supply contract with our producers, and donation of 1Million€ for farmers’ seeds preservation. We launched our petition during the event, so KOLs would be the first signatories and first to share the petition. It rallied powerful ambassadors: journalists, chefs… to fuel the conversation.

On September 20th, our BlackSupermarkets opened in our stores nationally. It was the best media to allow consumers to taste these delicious illegal products and understand the issue, thanks to our spectacular herbariums that staged 600forbidden varieties.

The petition was key to attract journalists’ and politicians’ attention, so all digital buys - including webs films - drove to it. To make sure politicians could not forget us, we illegally posted our prints near places of power such as the National Assembly.

The BlackSupermarket hacked the conversation on the French National Food Forum and generated a national debate. Every eveningnews and major newspaper covered the campaign (France 2, M6, LCI, Libération, Marianne, Les Echos, Le Parisien…). Public figures joined our fight, even the worst critics of the retail industry. The campaign generated 300M+ earned media impressions. It was impossible to ignore the issue anymore.

The Public was baffled to discover this absurd law. They bought the illegal goods en masse (our maximum of 70tons, because of scarce illegal supply) and signed our petition (+ 85000 signatures).

Finally, public mobilization changed the law. On April19th 2018, the European Parliament ratified a new regulation on organic agriculture (Procedure 2014/0100(COD)) reauthorizing sale and cultivation of farmers’ seeds, now recognized as our agricultural heritage, essential to biodiversity and public health. It will apply in2021, after 40years of prohibition. BlackSupermarkets will remain open until then.

The BlackSupermarket rallied consumers, key-opinion-leaders and the French media behind a common cause; utilizing Carrefour’s own stores, digital, social, ambassadors and petition platform change.org; to reauthorize farmers’ varieties in Europe after 40 years of prohibition, for the health of consumers, farmers and future generations.

The greatest threat to public health is ignorance. If nobody knows, nobody cares, and lobbies can continue to pass laws in the shadows. After 40 years of prohibition, dozens of draft laws to reauthorize farmers’ seeds had already been rejected, in the indifference of the media. We knew we needed a plebiscite to bend the political agenda.

Our approche was to go outside the law publicly to expose this aberration, and rally consumers, KOLs and the media behind our cause. Our strategy was to use our first media - our stores, with 3 million shoppers daily - to both create a national debate and maximise the exposition of our campaign among our clients; while coordinated media buys on social and digital drove to our change.org petition. To get maximum awareness, we launched our BlackSupermarkets during the French National Food Forum, a major government summit reuniting politicians and the food industry.

Better health starts with better food. But in Europe, we suffer from an aberration. The EU advises to eat more fresh and varied organic products for our health, but legislates against organic farming biodiversity. Indeed, in Europe people have access to only 3% of existing cereals, vegetables, and fruits.The other 97% (two million varieties) are illegal, as producers can only sell what is registered in the Official Catalogue of Authorized Species, defined by the agrochemical lobby. These two million varieties are « Farmers’ varieties », our grand-parents' ancestral varieties. They’re naturally richer in nutrients, taste, and they’re naturally better suited for organic production. But only hybrid, pesticide-resistant seeds - patented by the agro-chemical industry - are authorized.

Carrefour - European retail leader and defender of better food for better health - decided to use its leadership power to change the law for the reauthorization of farmers’ seeds for organic production.