Foodwatch highlights Fleury Michonne, Maille, Milka, Bordeaux Chasnel, After Eight and Findus

Foodwatch decided to tackle particularly opaque practices of players in the agri-food industry. The Consumer Defense Association on Tuesday identified six products from major brands whose formulations were changed while their prices were hiked, often without informing consumers during periods of inflation.

This practice of reducing ingredients, eliminating them, or replacing them with cheaper or lower quality substitutes is called “cheap inflation”, a contraction of “cheap” and “inflation”.

A “not recent” event

Foodwatch thus points to Fleury Michonne surimi steaks, which contain 11% less fish meat while the price per kilo has increased by 40% between 2021 and 2023. Maille mayonnaise (Unilever group brand), Milka chocolate (Bordeaux), Milka chocolate also cites the association. Chesnel Rilettes, After Eight chocolates (Nestle) or fish from the Findus brand (Nomad Foods).

“We have identified instances going back to 2016 before the start of food price hikes. This phenomenon is therefore not recent, but inflation may have encouraged producers to resort to these practices,” Foodwatch explained on its website as part of an investigation carried out with the show France Grand Format on France 2.

“Shrinkage” also singled out

“We have challenged manufacturers, who usually justify these changes by the increase in raw material prices during inflationary periods. For Foodwatch, this in no way excuses ambiguity regarding recipe or format changes, nor associated price increases,” the association added, also condemning the “shrinkage”.

Regarding “shrinkage” or “reflation”, the government is working on a draft decree requiring supermarkets by March to further explain this practice to manufacturers, agri-businessmen or distributors of consumer products, including reducing the quantity of products sold rather than significantly increasing them. is Prices – very high.

Food prices, the main driver of inflation in 2023, which peaked at around 16% in the spring, have since slowed to a 5.7% year-on-year increase in January 2024. “We have won this fight against inflation”, declared France’s Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire on the 2nd, guaranteeing that “a quarter of the price” would be “on pasta, on oil, on coffee”. “In the coming weeks, maybe in the coming months, we will be below 2%,” he added of price increases in France.