Food prices are finally falling a little in supermarkets, a first since 2021

It’s a slight drop, but a drop nonetheless. For the first time since 2021, the NielsenIQ institute observes a decline in prices in supermarkets, of 0.52% in September compared to August. In previous months, prices were only stable (0.1%), despite government efforts to bring them down.

The Minister of the Economy, Bruno Le Maire, has been asking manufacturers for several months to reconnect with their distributor customers in order to lower their prices. Even if the result does not live up to expectations and the inflation rate for food products continues to hover at 11% over one year and even 20% over two years, "we must admit that some industrialists have made efforts, notes Emmanuel Fournet, consultant at NielsenIQ. Between June and the end of August, out of 20,000 products from major national brands, half saw their price drop. The drop in prices observed in September is more marked for national brand products (-0.7%) than for private label products (-0.3%).

Unsurprisingly, the strongest declines are observed on products that incorporate a raw material whose price has fallen. The price of pasta (1.16%) thus benefits from the decline in wheat prices. That of frozen meals (-3.36%) reflects the drop in energy prices, of which they are major consumers.

This movement should increase. At the request of Bruno Le Maire, manufacturers and distributors have developed a list of 5,000 products whose prices should remain stable or decline until the end of the year. The date of annual commercial negotiations between manufacturers and distributors has also been brought forward. Several distributors, however, sounded the alarm on Wednesday: these negotiations could result in new increases.

Heard on Wednesday at the National Assembly, Thierry Cotillard, the boss of the Mousquetaires, considered it legitimate to ask his suppliers for a reduction in their prices of between 2% and 5% for the year 2024.