“It’s a scam! We’re putting an end to it”, promised Bruno Le Maire, the Minister of Economy and Finance. The government will force supermarkets to display a poster alerting consumers of a reduction in quantities of a product at an unchanged price, the Ministry of the Economy said in a statement. communicated published Friday April 19.
“As of 1er July, a placard will be placed near the product when its quantity decreases and its price remains unchanged or increases. This is an important step in the fight I am leading for the transparency that we owe to consumers”, declared Olivia Grégoire, Minister for Trade, quoted in the press release. “The indication must in particular specify the evolution of the price in relation to weight, so that the consumer knows the true evolution of the price. We committed to it, we are doing it”for his part declared Mr. Le Maire.
The ministry specifies that “this information must be provided by distributors in large and medium-sized stores, in the immediate vicinity of the products concerned. It must appear in these physical stores during the two months following the marketing date of industrial food and non-food products. Cans, laundry detergent and even soda bottles are affected.
Foods sold in bulk are not affected
Foods sold in bulk are not affected as are products “the quantity of which may vary during preparation (deli section for example)”, including if the price per kilo increases. Moreover, “Consumers who have doubts about the price per unit of measurement displayed on the shelves are also invited to report it via the SignalConso application or website.”
“Shrinkflation” – from the English verb shrink, “shrink” – consists, for manufacturers of consumer products, agro-industrialists or distributors, of reducing the quantities of products sold rather than increasing – too – significantly the prices. The distributor Carrefour, for example, had drastically reduced the quantities of its vegetables “first prizes” to stay under a price of 1 euro, the media recalled in December 60 million consumersevoking going from three to two salads or reducing the potato fillet by a third.
“If a decree comes out, we will respect it and apply it, but we regret it”the boss of the fourth French distributor, Système U, Dominique Schelcher, announced in January. “It’s the industrialist who knows that his packaging has been reduced, that the recipe has been called into question”he said, fearing ” a waste of time “ for in-store teams.