Inflation: the government intends to ask large retailers to fight against “shrinkflation”

Something promised, something due. This fall, the government committed to fighting against “shrinkflation”, this practice carried out by certain manufacturers which consists of reducing the size of a product, while maintaining or increasing its price. In September, Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne indicated that she wanted to “ban” this scheme, by requiring “all products concerned to report changes in quantity” on their labels. According to information from BFMTV confirmed by Le Figaro, the executive has just notified a draft decree to this effect to the European Commission, a text which could come into force as early as April 2024.

This text provides that the “reduction in weight” made on the product must be “directly displayed on the packaging or on a label attached to the product”. Concretely, the buyer will be able to read in black and white that “the quantity sold has increased from X to Y and its price per kilo has increased by...% or...€”. As a reminder, manufacturers are already obliged to indicate changes in weight, but some do not hesitate to write it in a tiny font, or even not to mention it. With this new decree, there is no longer any question of misleading the consumer: the statement must appear in a “visible and legible manner”, with a font of the “same size as that used to indicate the price of the product”. This obligation would apply for a period of 3 months from the date of sale of the product in its reduced quantity. Please note that “prepackaged foodstuffs of variable quantity and non-prepackaged foodstuffs (bulk)” are not affected by the obligation.

The text submitted to Brussels, however, reserves a small surprise compared to the initial project. In September, the Minister of the Economy, Bruno Le Maire, mentioned a “legislative text to oblige manufacturers” to inform consumers in the event of shrinkflation. However, according to the decree, it will be the distributors, and not the manufacturers, who will have to lay their cards on the table. All distributors will be obliged to add the famous labels themselves, with the exception of convenience stores and general food stores, since only hypermarkets and supermarkets are covered by the decree.

Contacted by Le Figaro, Bercy explained that the European regulations on consumer information (INCO) did not allow, as it stands, to place the obligation on manufacturers. The only alternative would have been to wait for the revision of the said regulation, and therefore to wait until 2026. “We wanted to act quickly,” explains the source. The fact remains that this distribution of roles could well revive tensions between distributors and manufacturers, exacerbated by the price war.

“Shrinkflation” has already been the subject of several skirmishes between supermarkets and manufacturers: this summer, at the height of inflation, Intermarché did not hesitate to denounce the practices of some industrialists. A few months later, Carrefour CEO Alexandre Bompard announced that the brand was going to identify products planed by manufacturers itself, without waiting for the government. This crusade for transparency was then deemed “very hypocritical” by the president of the National Association of Food Industries (Ania).

Will distributors be willing to announce to consumers themselves that they are paying more for less? In any case, they should have no choice, especially since in the event of a breach, they will be liable to an administrative fine, the amount of which could reach 15,000 euros for a legal entity. Deceptive distributors will also be in the sights of Fraud Repression, which may issue an injunction to put an end to deceptive practices. “It’s quite clever politically on the part of the government to have shifted the obligation onto the shoulders of distributors, since after all, they were the first to denounce shrinkflation,” comments Olivier Dauvers, specialist in mass distribution. .

But, according to the expert, the regulations envisaged by the executive will be partially “ineffective”. “It will be necessary to define where shrinkflation begins, since as soon as the manufacturer changes its weight, it changes the recipe and can therefore change its gencode, its barcode.” If the manufacturer maintains that it is a new product, “it is impossible to invoke shrinkflation”, maintains Olivier Dauvers. An impossibility which would therefore put distributors, required to inform consumers, in difficulty. This point was, however, clarified by Bercy. “The draft decree covers the change in weight, and not the change in recipe, which is not strictly speaking shrinkflation. But we are following this subject carefully,” assures the source. If it is not rejected by the European Commission, the draft decree could be published in the Official Journal from the end of March 2024, and the obligation come into force from April 1 of the same year.