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This article reassesses the history and logistics of France’s markets of national interest (MINs) that were established in the 1950s. These organisations became far more than price regulators and they developed a pioneering model of logistics that was a precursor of practices that were adopted in modern food retailing decades later. We use the literary concept of “anticipatory plagiarism” to demonstrate how current logistical practices such as flow centralization, peri-urban locations and just-in-time delivery were already implemented within the MIN framework. The article thus challenges dominant narratives about innovation in logistics by highlighting how the French state devised certain logistics systems well before private actors. This historical analysis sheds light on current issues in urban distribution, advocating for greater consolidation of delivery flows in response to rising ecological and social concerns.