Decidedly turbulent period for mass distribution. Hit by a record level of inflation, supermarkets have had to deal with a particularly high level of outages for several months.
According to NielsenIQ data revealed by LSAthe product breakage rate in August reached a particularly high level of 5.7%, an increase of 1.6 points compared to the same period in 2021. Last June, the breakage rate was only 1.2% .
War in Ukraine, supply problem, historical drought, precautionary purchases… Many basic products such as mustard, oils, pasta, flour or rice experience periodic shortages on the shelves.
Uncertainties have been added to these structural difficulties, such as that of the Lu brand cookies (Pépito, Pim’s, Petits Ecoliers, etc.) after the closure of certain production plants of the Mondelez group due to the suspicion of the presence of salmonella.
In August, seasonal products were the ones that increased their shortage rate the most. The heat wave and the drought caused an overconsumption of water and non-alcoholic beverages with rupture rates of up to 2.2 points in this department (6.8%). Particularly strong stress in still bottled waters.
After beverages, frozen foods (6.7%), groceries (5.9%) and fresh products (4.9%) are the most affected by shortages.
The end of summer should allow a return to normality in this department, but now other threats hang over the food departments. Many harvests could be very poor this year due to unfavorable weather conditions. Corn, potatoes, milk or even honey could run out in the coming months.
Source: BFM TV
