Sophie Coisne, deputy editor-in-chief of 60 million consumers who piloted a special issue devoted to the impact of inflation on the prices of everyday products, indicates, on franceinfo Friday, April 29, that the rise in prices may not know “break before 2023” on basic necessities. “Distributor brands are the first to be impacted”she says.
franceinfo: What are the products whose prices are rising the most?
Sophie Coisne: We are tracking 31 necessities and we can see a price increase on five categories in particular, although they are not the only ones. These are pasta, which grew by an average of 12% over one year, frozen meat, vegetable oil (rapeseed, sunflower), coffee and canned vegetables. In these categories, it is the first prices and private labels that are the most impacted. On certain first price pasta, we observe an increase of 70 to 75% on first price pasta shells, for example. Distributor brands were the first to be impacted by an increase which already dates from August. The large retailers can pass on the increase in the price of raw materials first to the products they manufacture themselves. For hygiene products, there is a small increase, less than that of food. It is essentially linked to the increase in transport: the farther the products come, the more they are impacted by the cost of fuel.
Is this price inflation calming down lately or not?
It’s not really calming down and we’re not expecting a break before 2023, alas. On our basket of 31 products, we saw a 3.27% increase between March 2021 and March 2022. These are only hygiene, maintenance and food products. We expect that to continue. We expect the increase in products from big brands, because the negotiation has been longer, and we also expect the impact of the cessation of palm oil exports, which manufacturers had been counting on to replace sunflower oil.
How to limit the cost of your shopping cart therefore?
By opting for a salad in a bag or a ready-made tray, you double the price of your product. It’s the same for pound cake, for example: if you make it at home, the recipe is very simple, it will cost you less. Breton pancakes are six times cheaper. Home cooking is a way to reduce the bill.