A consumer boycott aimed at major suppliers of milk, bottled water and petrol in Morocco has prompted the government to call for lower prices and forced one producer to scale down operations.
The secretly-organised campaign is the first such mass online protest in Morocco, which escaped the ‘Arab Spring’ uprisings of 2011 but where demonstrations have erupted in impoverished areas over jobs and economic neglect.
The campaign, launched on April 20 and calling for a boycott of Morocco's main milk, water and petrol brands, has struck a raw nerve with many, who complain they have been left out of the country’s business boom.
The campaign targets Afriquia fuel stations owned by the Akwa group of Agriculture Minister Aziz Akhanouch, one of Morocco's richest men, French dairy firm Centrale Danone and the Sidi Ali water brand.
The three firms have not detailed the impact on their businesses but several grocery shops in the capital Rabat said they had sold less milk and water from the firms under fire.
United Front
"The goal of this boycott is to unite the Moroccan people and speak with one voice against expensive prices, poverty, unemployment, injustice, corruption and despotism," one of the boycott pages on Facebook said.
A survey in the L'Economiste daily showed 42 percent support for the boycott. Among those who backed the campaign, milk was targeted by 95 percent, mineral water by 78 percent and Afriquia by 52 percent.
Danone Response
A spokesman for Centrale Danone, speaking on national television, acknowledged an impact on sales without giving details.
For the holy month of Ramadan, the company lowered the retail price of milk by one dirham a litre.
News by Reuters, edited by ESM. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
