France Announces Additional Food Price Caps And Criticises Big Corporations

Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire announced on Thursday that there will be 5,000 more products in French supermarkets with price caps after data showed another month of double-digit food inflation. In an effort to combat growing inflation and rein in the rise in living expenses, France has set additional food price limitations. The government’s action attempts to hit international food industry companies.

The goal of these price controls, according to Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire, is “to irrevocably break the spiral of food prices.” The goal of this project is to stop France’s worrying double-digit food inflation. In cooperation with both food producers and distributors, price caps have been set. The number of products with price caps in French supermarkets will treble to 5,000 as a result of these measures. The French government has previously attempted to lower food prices, and this decision expands on such efforts.

Speaking to French broadcaster France2, Le Maire also criticized a number of international corporations for not doing more to assist French customers, including Unilever (UL) and PepsiCo (PEP).

The price caps, which were agreed upon with producers and distributors, aim “to definitively break the spiral of food prices,” he added, noting that the products in question made up around a quarter of the selections at a normal supermarket.

Le Maire reported in June that 75 of the largest food firms have agreed to lower prices on hundreds of goods beginning in July to reflect drops in the cost of raw materials.

He declared a compulsory, immediate decrease in supermarket pricing on goods where producers had similarly dropped prices on Thursday, however, claiming that many distributors were failing to pass along their savings to customers.

He also said that checks and punishments will be used to support these measures and industry pledges.

Le Maire criticized “big industrial groups” for not doing more to assist French customers with high prices, singling out Unilever, Nestle, and PepsiCo for doing “a bit, but not much.”

He also criticized businesses that boast of lowering prices but only do so by a tiny percentage without naming specific businesses.

Le Maire stated that “cheating practices,” such as decreasing the weight or volume of products while maintaining the same price, must end. “The French need [for prices] to really and concretely drop,” he added.

French food prices increased 11.1% this month over the same period last year, according to preliminary data issued by the nation’s statistics institute on Thursday. While this is less than July’s rate of increase, it is still more than double the pace of overall inflation.

Bottom Line

The most recent food price caps in France are intended to reduce rising food costs, with a focus on multinational food corporations. These actions are part of a larger plan to lower inflationary pressures and lower the cost of basic foods for consumers in the nation.