Hand in the bag.
The consumer defense association Foodwatch on Tuesday identified six products from major brands whose composition was altered while their prices increased, often without the knowledge of consumers during periods of inflation.
This practice of reducing ingredients, removing them or replacing them with cheaper or lower quality substitutes is called “cheapflation”, a contraction of “cheap” and “inflation”.
Foodwatch thus points to Fleury Michon surimi sticks, which include 11% less fish meat while the price per kilo has increased by 40% between 2021 and 2023. The association also cites Maille mayonnaise (Unilever group brand) , Milka chocolate (Mondelez), Bordeau Chesnel rillettes, After Eight chocolates (Nestlé) or fish from the Findus brand (Nomad Foods).
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“We have identified examples dating back as far as 2016, well before the start of the rise in food prices.
The phenomenon is therefore not recent, but inflation could have encouraged manufacturers to resort to these practices,” explained Foodwatch on its website, as part of an investigation carried out with the program “France grand format” on France 2.
“Opacity on recipe or format changes”
“We have challenged manufacturers, who generally justify these changes by an increase in the price of raw materials during periods of inflation.
For foodwatch, this in no way excuses the opacity regarding changes in recipe or format, nor the rise in prices which is correlated with it,” added the association, also denouncing “shrinkflation”.
Concerning "shrinkflation", or "reduflation", the government is working on a draft decree requiring supermarkets by March to further explain this practice of manufacturers of consumer products, agro-industrialists or distributors, consisting of reducing quantities of products sold rather than significantly increasing prices - too much.
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Food prices, the main driver of inflation in 2023 with a peak of almost 16% in the spring, have since started to slow down, with an increase of 5.7% over one year in January 2024. “We have won this battle against inflation”, affirmed the Minister of the Economy Bruno Le Maire on France 2, assuring that “a quarter of prices” would “fall on pasta, on oils, on coffee”.
“In the coming weeks, perhaps in the coming months, we will be below 2%,” he added about the rise in prices in France.