Inflation has reshuffled the cards. To the point of dethroning the Ricard from its place as No. 1 of the best-selling products. Over the last twelve months, it is now the pack of six bottles of 1.5 liters of Cristaline, sold on average between 1.10 euros and 1.50 euros, which tops the best references in terms of turnover on the shelves of supermarket chains, according to the NielsenIQ institute. "It's an event! Since we began our calculations, about ten years, Ricard has always occupied first place in the ranking in terms of value," says Nicolas Léger, analytical director at NielsenIQ.
In detail, the water pack generated a turnover of 302.2 million euros against 301.1 million euros for the aniseed drink with the one-liter bottle sold on average around 20-22 euros. In question, "a summer period last year which was very long and very hot, which favored the consumption of bottled water," recalls the expert. All this in a context where these items have suffered a sharp increase in prices (+ 10% on average).
Among drinks, it is one of the most inflationary categories. And even if Cristaline has also increased its rates, it remains "the cheapest, the most accessible," he continues. Many consumers have therefore fallen back on this brand. In volume, its sales exploded by 11.6%, proving that some of them are not yet ready to give up bottled water despite the ecological impact.
Nutella is still popular
The second place of the liter of Ricard does not mean that the French have turned away from it. On the contrary. "In volume, it made +8.4% in a spirits market that was down 4%. A great performance," says Nicolas Léger.
Because, despite the inflationary context, consumers are still looking to indulge themselves. If the top 10, all products combined, remains dominated by liquids, with coca-cola (the bottle of 1.75 liters), in third place in the ranking in value, we find in sixth place, the jar of one kilo of Nutella. When drinks are excluded from the ranking, this reference comes first, followed by the 375 g can of Ferrero Rocher and the Caprice des dieux cheese.
"Certainly, with inflation, consumers go out less, make fewer restaurants, cut back on their spending, comments the expert. But not everyone is ready to give up certain pleasure products, such as Nutella. In volume terms, sales of the latter increased by 28.3% compared to last year.
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