Prices that move little on the labels, but less full packages: the Foodwatch association accused on Thursday the agribusiness companies that manufacture products well known to the French, such as Salvetat water or Kiri cheese, of weighing on consumers an “inflation hidden”. “.
A neologism from the Anglo-Saxon world, “shrinkflation” (from the verb “shrink”) refers to the practice of manufacturers of hiding price increases on products sold by reducing their weight.
The Foodwatch association, which “fights for transparency in the agri-food sector”, pointed out this Thursday, in a press release and on the “Complément d’Enquête” program broadcast on France 2, “six brands that have changed the size of their flagship products in recent years”.
Salvetat, Kiri…
He points out that Salvetat water, owned by Danone, reduced the size of its bottles from 1.25 liters to 1.15 liters in 2020. If the price of a liter “has increased by 15% in Intermarché”, “the price per unit has increased by 5%”, calculates the association, which notes that the mention “Generous format like the people of the South” has disappeared from the label.
Stating that “the mention 1L15 appears on the labels of each bottle”, Danone responded to AFP that Salvetat had “thus approximated the standard format of sparkling water on the market”, 1 liter. Danone also says that it can only “advise a price (sale, editor’s note) to dealers” that it supplies its products to.
Another example cited by Foodwatch is Kiri cheese, which reduced the serving size of its processed cheese by 10% a year and a half ago, with serving sizes down from 20g to 18g. “At Auchan, the unit price does not seem to have changed, but the price per kilo has increased by 11%,” the association notes.
legal phenomenon
The Bel group explains that the cheese is sold “in a new, more natural recipe, without additives” and made in France with French milk. This required substantial investments in research and industry to develop this recipe.
He also says that he wanted to “find the best balance between format, price and added value for the consumer.”
Given the vertiginous increase in production costs, such as raw materials, in recent months, Foodwatch is concerned about the rebound of a phenomenon that is certainly legal but whose “opacity” it denounces. Manufacturers and distributors are “asked by means of a petition to commit to clearly informing consumers”.
Source: BFM TV
