Carrefour in France posts warnings about ‘shrinkflation’

The French supermarket Carrefour has placed stickers on its shelves this week to warn customers about “shrinkflation. ” This means that the amount of product in a packet is decreasing, but the price remains the same.

Lipton Ice Tea, Lindt chocolate, and Viennetta ice cream are some of the products that are being criticized and exposed.

Shoppers are being informed if bottles are smaller or if pack contents weigh less.

Carrefour wants to make the companies that make the products lower their prices.

“According to Stefen Bompais, the director of client communications at Carrefour, the goal of stigmatizing these products is to make manufacturers reconsider their prices. ”

Carrefour found that 26 products have become smaller in size, but their prices haven’t been lowered. These products are made by big food companies like Nestle, PepsiCo, and Unilever.

Carrefour said that Nestle’s Guigoz infant milk formula used to come in a pack size of 900g, but now it has been reduced to 830g.

The supermarket said that a bottle of sugar-free peach-flavored Lipton Ice Tea made by PepsiCo became smaller. It used to be 1. 5 liters, but now it is only 1. 25 liters

Viennetta, a product made by Unilever, used to weigh 350g but now it weighs 320g, meaning it has become smaller.

Carrefour, the second biggest supermarket in France, is putting signs on the shelves to show customers that certain products have become more expensive and have reduced in size.

Unilever, Pepsico, and Nestle have not said anything about Carrefour’s decision.

French retailers and food manufacturers are being asked to lower their prices, similar to what is happening in the UK, due to the difficulty shoppers are facing with the sudden increase in prices.

In June, the French Finance Minister, Bruno Le Maire, called a meeting with 75 retailers and consumer groups to talk about prices. He accused manufacturers of not following the rules on inflation.

British consumer groups are also saying that the value of everyday items like cat food and chocolate biscuits is getting smaller.

According to retail expert Ged Futter, UK supermarkets are unlikely to imitate Carrefour because it may damage relationships between retailers and food firms.

“He said this is a very straightforward way of attempting to compete. ” “To accomplish that with the people who make your products, it won’t be beneficial. ”

Supermarkets use a tactic called “shrinkflation” with their own-label products. This means they try to keep the price of the products at a certain point, like £1, by using cheaper ingredients or making the portions smaller to deal with increasing costs.

He said that criticizing brands for doing the same thing would be like hypocrites judging others while having the same flaws.