The galloping inflation in food would not be about to slow down its mad race. As “Challenges” reported, major retailers pointed to a 20-25% year-on-year price increase in June…
For several months, checkout has been increasingly painful for many households. From now on, some of the most modest French people have no choice but to revise downwards the contents of their shopping cart. Thus, according to an Ifop survey for the association The table of chefsrelayed by The Parisianmore than four out of ten vulnerable people (42%) said they had been forced to cut out one meal a day. A figure which should not go on improving in view of the alarm bells sounded by the major brands in this month of April 2023. Thus, withChallengesDominique Schelcher, president of Système U, indicated that food prices could experience an increase of 23 to 25% over eighteen months at the end of June.
Following this observation, many leading supermarkets in France asked as soon as possible the reopening of negotiations trade with industry. Indeed, if prices in stores continue to rise, the prices of raw materials, wheat or even energy, would be on the opposite slope. Dominique Schelcher thus lamented “the extreme resistance of industrialists” to resume commercial negotiations with distributors despite this two-way curve. In a letter sent to distributors and manufacturers, the Government also called for this reopening of dialogue. The purpose of this maneuver: that “the transfer prices are revised downwards each time this is objectively justified”, thus wrote the Minister of the Economy Bruno Le Maire and the Minister Delegate for Trade Olivia Grégoire. And to add:We urge distributors to ensure that any price reductions that may result from this renegotiation are returned to consumers when the time comes, in full and without delay.”
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Inflation: a fragmented France
In front of inflation in food, the French are not all in the same boat. Indeed, last March, Franceinfo developed, in partnership with the firm NielsenIQ, a standard basket filled with 37 everyday products consumed by households. While on average, the cost of said basket amounts to €105.25, this figure fluctuates according to the departments. Thus, the Vendée won the prize for the least expensive caddy with €100.20 on average, closely followed by Mayenne, Loire-Atlantique, Ille-et-Vilaine and Maine-et-Loire. On the other hand, Parisians are the worst off with an average of €125.56.