Another glaring example of “shrinkflation”. This Wednesday, September 6, our colleagues from Liberation reveal the underside of the negotiations between distributors and the food and hygiene products giant Unilever. And the observation is clear: many products have seen their quantity drop while, at the same time, prices continue to soar. In some cases, the price per kilo or liter increases by several tens of points, assure our colleagues. In neither of these situations is the change clearly indicated to the consumer, which has raised the ire of Bercy lately.
Except that in reality these “proposals” are in name only. Our colleagues explain, in fact, that the manufacturer has not left the choice to its customers. Either they accepted this new offer or Unilever stopped all deliveries. At the same time, the old, more generous formats were stopped… A practice thus preventing large retailers from making a choice.
This process has a name, that of “shrinkflation”. It consists of reducing the size or quantity of a product while increasing the price or keeping it at the same level. Since distribution is not a market where prices are administered, the State does not have the possibility of putting an end to this practice, which is legal, immediately. Nevertheless, in recent weeks, the Minister of the Economy Bruno Le Maire pleads for a change in the regulations when he considers that this technique is “misleading and abusive”. The Bercy tenant intends to oblige, without anyone knowing when or how, manufacturers to inform consumers of any change in the weight of a product.