French supermarket chain puts stickers on food to show ‘shrinkflation’

THE MEASURE BY CARREFOUR HAS BEEN CRITICISED AS IT USES THE SAME PRACTICE ON ITS OWN BRAND PRODUCTS The French supermarket chain Carrefour has said it is set to put stickers on products

subject to ‘shrinkflation’ - the term refers to when product size has decreased but the price has been maintained or even increased. The chain will place orange stickers (sized 13cm by 13cm)

on affected items, and show where the price requested by the supplier has increased, said David Reviriego, the supermarket’s press relations manager. The sticker also states that Carrefour

will aim to renegotiate the price of the product concerned. > #shrinkflation ⛔️ > Nous l’avons dit, nous le faisons. >  > Dès lundi dans tous les Carrefour de France nous 

installerons des > affichettes 13cmx13cm pour indiquer une chose simple : ce produit a > vu son grammage baisser et le tarif pratiqué par notre fournisseur > a augmenté. 

pic.twitter.com/K9zHbuZ48F > — David Reviriego (@DavidReviriego1) September 7, 2023 Some of the products subject to shrinkflation include 16 capsules of Nescafé’s Dolce Gusto Grande

Intenso coffee, which have reduced in weight from 9g to 8.3g while seeing their price increase by 8%, according to French media BFMTV. Mr Reviriego said on X (formerly Twitter), that

Carrefour’s aim “is clear: inform consumers and put pressure on companies to drop their prices”. COMMUNICATION CAMPAIGN However consumer association 60 millions de consommateurs noted that

the supermarket chain itself practises shrinkflation on its own-brand products. Lionel Maugain, from the association, told France Inter that the supermarket’s stickers are a ‘first’ in the

industry, but also a ‘communication campaign’. He said Carrefour started applying shrinkflation to its own products in May, citing as an example a pack of potatoes, which has dropped in

weight from 1.5kg to 1kg, while keeping its price of €0.99. He also cited a pack of lettuce hearts, which went from containing three to two hearts, while again keeping its price of €0.99. He

did however say shrinkflation is “marginal” at the chain, with only 150 products affected, “which is not enormous” given the “10,000, 20,000, 30,000” products that are found in a

supermarket. READ ALSO: WATCH OUT FOR FALSE SUPERMARKET ‘DATE-END’ FOOD PROMOTIONS IN FRANCE ‘DOWNSIZING’ In response, Carrefour said it preferred to use the term ‘downsizing’. “When faced

with price increases from our suppliers, we preferred to change the weight rather than the price,” it said in a statement to Ouest France. “We realised that this was poorly understood by

consumers, and that we could have better informed them of this decision.” The supermarket’s pack of lettuce hearts now once again contains three instead of two hearts - but its price has

increased to €1.29. Carrefour is not the only supermarket chain to practise shrinkflation, however. BFMTV noted, for example, that a Leclerc own brand jar of jam has seen its weight fall

from 330g to 320g, but its price increased by 69.4%. BILL TO COUNTER SHRINKFLATION TO COME To counter shrinkflation, French finance minister Bruno Le Maire said last Thursday (September 7)

that a bill will be presented at the beginning of October that will force companies “to show in a very obvious way” when the size of a product has been reduced to counter shrinkflation. He

said the practice has always existed but [its use] is becoming more widespread. The non-governmental organisation Foodwatch, which launched a petition a year ago against shrinkflation, said

it welcomed the measure as a “victory”. “In these difficult times, we are delighted that the government has decided to act and force manufacturers to be honest,” said spokesperson Audrey

Morice. Foodwatch said it wants the information to be clear and visible, and say whether the product’s quantity has changed. The information should be shown on both the packaging and online,

for at least three months, so that consumers have time to note the change, it said. READ ALSO WHICH IS THE CHEAPEST SUPERMARKET CHAIN IN FRANCE? FRENCH SUPERMARKETS PREPARE TO LAUNCH

TRADITIONAL ‘FOIRES AUX VINS’