2024-01-23 16:04:00
L’The year 2023 has been severely marked by food inflation. According to the new 2023 price observatory from the Familles Rurales association, published this Tuesday, food prices jumped 11.9% over one year. That’s not all. Products “healthy for our health”, including fruits and vegetables, were “even more affected by the average increase”, warns the consumer protection association.
While the French will very soon experience rising electricity prices, the association urges the government to act. “Rural families are waiting for a political boost from our decision-makers by devoting a food plan,” declares the association in its report, deploring the abandonment of certain promises, such as that of the food voucher. Point spoke with Nadia Ziane, the director of the association’s consumer department.
Point : What are the main lessons learned from your observatory?
Nadia Ziane : Food inflation is very high in 2023. It was around 12% this year and adds to inflation in 2022 which had already been very high. Over two years, food prices have increased by almost 20%. It is enormous !
But when we look more closely, in 2023, the products particularly affected are different from those in 2022. That year, we were quite happy. Our price observatory, built around the National Nutrition and Health Program (PNNS), noted a contained increase in healthy and simple products. In 2022, inflation for these foods was around 8%. In 2023, we hoped to have the same trend, namely simple products that would be less affected than others. In reality, it was nothing of the sort, in fact it was quite the opposite.
Do you have examples of healthy foods that are victims of this increase?
We gave the example of carrots, which saw their prices soar by 40%. This is a bit of a counter-example, insofar as this increase can be explained by poor climatic conditions. But other products have seen their prices explode: the price of mackerel, a very healthy product, has increased by 25%. The price of semi-skimmed milk is +23%. Overall, the price of dairy products jumped 19%.
Thus, even people who had turned to the healthiest products suffered from the increase in prices, moving away from the diet recommended by health authorities. This worries us. For several years we have seen portions, particularly of fruits and vegetables, decline. As a result, we have seen health insurance expenses increase. According to the General Directorate of the Treasury, we spend 20 billion euros every year treating pathologies that could have been avoided if, and only if, we had eaten better. Our health depends on our plate. However, in this context of crisis, with food inflation which has reached records, but also with the announcement of the increase in the price of electricity in the news, consumers will likely compensate for these increases on food , the only adjustment variable.
How much does a healthy diet cost today?
We have created baskets of healthy and varied products, by price range. In reality, even by isolating the cheapest products, we are unable to go below 539 euros per month for a family of four – two adults, two children – to comply with the recommendations of the health authorities.
When we relate this figure to a couple on the minimum wage, this budget represents 20% of their income. It is therefore not surprising that today, in France, in the 21ste century, we have 1.8 million people in a situation of food insecurity, who do not have enough to eat.
What do you think are the main reasons for this high inflation?
There is probably an unsuitable margin system. To take the example of fruits and vegetables, according to the figures we have, they cost 11.2 billion euros at the entrance to the chain, when the consumer pays 22 billion for them at the end of the chain. Here too we must understand the anger of the producers that we share. What is happening to cause these prices to have more than doubled? There are actors within this circuit who are paid too well.
Have consumer behaviors changed?
Arbitrations are made. We are seeing in particular the collapse of the organic sector. But more broadly, many consumers have, for example, chosen to buy fewer national brand products and more private label products or to buy fewer fruits and vegetables. However, we need at least 5 fruits and vegetables per day per person. This represents approximately a third of our basket in the family budget. But it’s ultimately quite reasonable, since we need a third of fruits and vegetables in our diet. Except that in the minds of consumers, it is an item that costs too much, and so they turn away from it.
Are any territories more affected by this inflation?
The differences within the metropolis are not significant, with Île-de-France remaining the most expensive region. The bulk of the problem is happening in our overseas departments. For our compatriots, inflation is equal to that of the mainland. Except that they have significantly lower incomes. In addition, our basket is on average 50% more expensive than in mainland France.
This is a rather alarming observation that you have made here…
The President of the Republic himself seemed to have taken stock of the situation, in particular by setting up the price shield, but also by mentioning the establishment of a food check from the start of the crisis. As a consumer association, we have also denounced a system of excessive margins on the part of certain food manufacturers or distributors, with intermediaries who are likely taking advantage of this crisis to make a lot of money. The subject of margin regulations seemed to have been taken up directly by the president in September. Except that, since then, he hasn’t talked about it anymore. Mr. President, in accordance with the commitments you have made, act, intervene!
It is unbearable to see so many of our compatriots being in the situation of having to choose essential goods for themselves, their children, their family.
No one should take advantage of this crisis.
We will implement an agreement on margin moderation.
— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) September 25, 2023
Do you deplore the abandonment of Emmanuel Macron’s food check project?
At a time when we are spending 20 billion euros to treat pathologies that could be avoided if we invested in a real preventive policy in the medium term, this project would have been a good investment in the future. Consumers no longer have enough means to eat healthily. We should not be surprised in hindsight that these families develop pathologies linked to what they put on their plates.
This monthly food check, or this food allowance, worth 65 euros per household living at or below the poverty line, would represent an expenditure for the State of nearly 7.2 billion euros per year. An expense which would have generated savings on the treatment of pathologies linked to an unsuitable diet.
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