As shoppers pay more for anything from coffee to ketchup, some retailers have started to cut or cap the price of hundreds of products. As they compete for customers and set themselves up to do battle in negotiations with major packaged food makers.
Eurostat said on Friday that euro zone inflation for food, alcohol and tobacco rose by 6.4% in April versus last year. Compared with a 5% increase in March, as the rising cost of living in Europe extends beyond expensive energy.
The head of Leclerc, France’s biggest retailer by market share, on Tuesday said it would identify the 120 items consumers buy most, including toilet paper, soap, rice and pasta, and create a “shield” whereby Leclerc will guarantee the price of those items from May 4 until July.
Price increases have been anywhere between 6% and 20%. Pasta, for instance, has increased by 20%, as have some brands of coffee and chocolate, Michel-Edouard Leclerc said in an interview with French radio broadcaster franceinfo.
As almost everyone becomes more careful about how much they spend, supermarkets, which have experienced flat margins, are anxious to avoid losing customers to the competition.
While Leclerc has promised to freeze some prices, across Europe. Retailers are widely seeking to limit the inflation impact on the most essential items.
In Britain surging prices have caused the biggest squeeze on household incomes. Since at least the 1950s as grocery price inflation hit 5.2% in the four weeks to March 20.
-REUTERS
