Olivia Grégoire, the minister delegate for SMEs, trade, crafts and tourism, announced Thursday that she would seize "in September" the National Consumer Council to investigate the "shrinkflation" and "special formats". "From the beginning of the next school year, (...) in September, I will refer the matter to the National Consumer Council (...) so that it can establish an in-depth investigation," said the minister during an issue of the magazine Complement d'enquête sur France 2 entitled "Inflation: the low blows of hypers".
This survey will focus "both on 'shrinkflation' but also on special products, special formats that can sometimes be found in some shops" such as family formats, continued Olivia Grégoire. "Shrinkflation" is a marketing practice that consists of masking the inflation of products by reducing quantities in similar packaging with an identical selling price. A legal practice provided that the indication of the weight of the food is changed, but which can mislead consumers.
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'Unacceptable' practices
The National Consumer Council will have to "look very closely at whether today regulatory responses, fines, sanctions are still sufficient or if it is necessary to strengthen the regulatory arsenal to sanction these practices that are unacceptable," she said. The magazine broadcast Thursday evening by France 2 looks at "the small tricks of food manufacturers to discreetly increase their prices", such as "changes of packaging or grammage", but also the "endless arm wrestling" to which give rise to negotiations between "some hypermarkets" and their suppliers, says the production.
As a joint advisory body, the National Consumer Council brings together public authorities, representatives of approved consumer associations and professional organizations to discuss consumer issues. It issues opinions aimed at "enriching the reflection of public authorities" on the economic protection of consumers or the challenges of ecological and digital transition.
