2023-09-12 05:12:15
Chips, kibble, diapers… Some manufacturers do not hesitate to reduce the quantity of their products, while increasing the price. A commercial practice to hide inflation which triggers an outcry.
“When a brand offers a “family” format or a free product, it knows very well how to indicate it in large letters on its packaging. Why not do it when she reduces the quantity? », asks Camille Dorioz, campaigns manager at Foodwatch. This marketing practice has a name: “shrinkflation” (contraction of the English shrink, shrink, and inflation), or “masked inflation” in French. A commercial technique which consists of reducing the weight or volume of a product, while keeping the packaging and the selling price the same, or even higher. A hitherto marginal practice which is becoming more widespread with inflation and which does not pass.
Large retailers denounce manufacturers
If this “misleading” commercial strategy is old and legal (as long as the labeling is compliant), it is increasingly criticized in this period of inflation. On the front line: the players in mass distribution. The objective: to put pressure on manufacturers so that they lower their prices or be more transparent. THE CEO of Carrefour, Alexandre Bompardsteps up to the plate and draws a powerful weapon: the name and shame (name and shame). “This product has seen its weight decrease and the price asked by our supplier increase. » This is the text mentioned on the label that Carrefour is affixing today on products affected by the shrinkflation (the poster also indicates that the retailer agrees to renegotiate the price). A decision widely commented on on social networks, since upon the announcement, we were able to observe a peak in activity (33%)* on X (formerly Twitter).
Some major retail bosses are aligned with the CEO of Carrefour: Dominique Schelcher, president of the Super U brand, believes that the efforts of manufacturers to counter inflation since the beginning of the year have been “ insufficient in relation to their results », and Thierry Cotillard, president of the Intermarché group, denounces an “unacceptable” practice. For his part, Michel-Edouard Leclerc puts his feet in the dish. At the end of June, the president of the Leclerc distribution group declared in The Tribune “not understanding why the Élysée and Matignon do not urgently take a decision by decree or order to put in place a legal framework requiring manufacturers to pass on reductions in the prices of raw materials. » And the leader puts forward a clue. Among the “people who have an interest in a little inflation”, Michel-Edouard Leclerc lists industrialists, who see their turnover increase, but also the State which collects VAT revenue. He drives the point home: “Inflation is a tax which is not discussed in Parliament, it is an unequal tax”. The distributor concludes: “The consumer is the turkey of the joke”.
Bruno Le Maire wants to force manufacturers to be more transparent
In their “crusade” to conquer the hearts of consumers, distributors have found an ally in the person of the Minister of the Economy Bruno Le Maire. His message: shrinkflation is a “scam” whose multiplication of cases is, according to him, unacceptable: “These bottles of orange juice which contained 1 liter and which now contain 900 ml without clearly informing the customer, that is called stealing! » Bruno Le Maire announced that he was working on a bill which will require, from October, manufacturers to make the reduction in the content of packaging “very visible”. No announcement, however, on the repercussions of the drop in raw materials as proposed by Michel-Édouard Leclerc.
Much ado regarding a “marginal” practice?
Declarations and announcements which did not fail to make Jean-Philippe André reactpresident of the French food federation ANIA on the air of RTL. “It’s very hypocritical to say it’s a scam. Distributors have accepted these products as such. The sale price on the shelves is not ours, it is the responsibility of Système U, Carrefour, Intermarché. » According to him, the shrinkflation remains a rare practice. “There are some 20,000 food items in a supermarket, so we’re talking regarding 0.2%. » A practice also described as “marginal” by Lionel Maugain, journalist at 60 million consumers. At the microphone of France Inter he denounces a “communication operation” on the part of Carrefour: “They are inflated to make all this hype around hidden inflation, while they themselves started in May. To keep its promise of the first price of vegetables at 0.99 euros, Carrefour went from a pack of three to two salads, he explains. The same goes for bags of potatoes, reduced “from 1.5 kilos to 1 kilo”. And the journalist asks himself: “Why not delist brands that practice shrinkflation rather than putting up posters inviting consumers not to buy these products? »
Beyond the controversy (which does not only affect industrialists, McDonald’s is suspected of having reduced the size of its Big Tasty without its price being revised downwards) a question remains: what if instead of trying to hide inflation, manufacturers and distributors increased prices? A question of psychological threshold, answer marketing experts. Kesako? A price that consumers consider acceptable.
Source: Visibrain, social media monitoring tool.
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