French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire on Thursday said he had reached an agreement with major food retailers and producers to step up the fight against inflation and to bring forward annual price negotiations - initially planned next year - to September.

Companies committed to cut prices on 5,000 everyday products, Le Maire said in a televiesd interview after two days of talks with sector executives.

But he singled out majors consumer goods companies Unilever, Nestle and PepsiCo, saying they were among groups not willing to cooperate in the price agreement. (Reporting by Leigh Thomas, Benoiv Van Overstraeten, writing by Tassilo Hummel, editing by Silvia Aloisi)