Pasta, coffee, mustard, flour… For several months now, French consumers have been observing food price increases, and currently, this upward trend appears to be accelerating even more.
The rise in food prices observed over the past few months is mainly related to global issues caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Retailers report that not only raw material prices have increased due to the pandemic, but transportation and packaging costs have also risen.
However, the price increase in dried fruits is related to bad weather. Last year’s frost damaged fruit crops in France, reducing harvest yields. The price rise in pasta and semolina is because Canada, the largest producer of hard wheat, had a poor harvest last year.
The food category hit hardest by inflation is pasta, which has seen a 14% price increase since March 2021. This is due not only to rising wheat prices but also to higher packaging costs. The price of pulp used to make cardboard has also risen sharply. The second highest increase is mustard, which rose by 8%, due to a 7.4% increase in the price of sunflower oil used in mustard production.
Should we worry about supply shortages?
No: Currently, the only reason for actual shortages on supermarket shelves is consumer behavior. Empty shelves stem from consumer anxiety. In the current situation, consumers tend to buy more, which sometimes leads to temporary out-of-stock situations in stores until inventory is replenished.
Experts expect food inflation to continue. The war in Ukraine has significantly raised energy prices, which are reflected in the prices of distributed products. Manufacturers require energy for production, transportation, and so on. Another reason for future price increases is the following: some product prices are currently based on last year’s grain export prices from Ukraine and Russia. The current geopolitical situation will gradually be reflected in consumer prices. Ukraine is trying to continue sowing wheat and corn, but the war may make harvesting and transportation difficult.
전 세계 해바라기 생산량의 4분의 3이 러시아와 우크라이나에서 나오기 때문에 큰 긴장이 예상됩니다. 러시아와 우크라이나는 세계에서 가장 중요한 사료용 밀 생산국에 속합니다. 따라서 송아지, 소, 돼지에게 먹이는 곡물 가격이 오르는 것이 매우 가능성이 높습니다. 이는 생산자들이 육류 제품 가격을 상승시킬 수밖에 없음을 의미합니다. 우크라이나는 또한 비료의 주요 생산자이자 닭고기 수출국이기도 합니다.