French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said on Friday that France’s major food companies, including Unilever, had pledged to reduce prices of hundreds of products from next month, and threatened financial penalties if they broke their promise.
The government is very upset after the prices of goods bought by consumers in retail stores reached record levels in recent months, despite the decline in the prices of many raw materials purchased by companies.
Le Maire has previously threatened to recover what he called “undue” profits from food companies by imposing special taxes on them if the benefits of lower raw material prices are not passed on to consumers, who are already suffering from higher energy bills.
“The prices of some products will drop by July,” Le Maire told BFM television on Friday, after meeting representatives of food companies yesterday.
He added, “There will be oversight and penalties will be imposed on those who do not abide by the rules,” noting that the prices of some products such as pasta, poultry and vegetable oils will be reduced.
Le Maire stated that if the food companies, which make 80% of the 75 French food, do not fulfill their promise, they will be revealed to the public and cause them embarrassment.
“As wholesale prices of a number of products decrease, (retail) prices should also decrease by 2, 3, 5 or even 10 percent,” he said, adding that he will have a list of the products in question next week.
Annual inflation in France fell more than expected in May to 6%, its lowest level in a year, with a moderate increase in energy and food prices, but food prices continued to rise last month by 14% after a record rise of about 16% in March. /March.
