France wants to force food retailers to flag ‘shrinkflation’
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PARIS - France wants large food retailers to alert their customers if products are affected by so-called shrinkflation, after officials openly criticised the practice earlier this year.
The government has submitted a draft decree to the European Commission that aims to require French food retailers to signal when the cost of a product stays the same even though its size declines, the Finance Ministry said in a statement.
If unopposed by Brussels, the decree could be enforced in late March 2024, according to the statement.
As food prices surged this year, French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire openly criticised producers such as Unilever and Nestle for not doing enough to cut temper increases.
In September, he also attacked the practice of shrinkflation, calling it a “scam”.
Targeting retailers first is the fastest way to ensure that customers are accurately informed, the Finance Ministry said.
France also intends to apply the same obligation to food producers in a second step, though this would require the revision of an existing European directive, which is not expected to take place before 2026, according to the statement.
The government’s plan was first reported by BFMTV earlier on Dec 29. BLOOMBERG
