»Schrumpfflation«-Warnung am Getränkeregal von Carrefour: Handfeste Eigeninteressen
Foto: Sarah Meyssonnier / REUTERS
Mit einer bemerkenswerten Aktion macht dieser Tage die französische Supermarktkette Carrefour auf versteckte Preiserhöhungen ihrer Lieferanten aufmerksam. Seit Montag kleben Aufkleber an Produkten, deren Größe geschrumpft sei, die aber auch nach der Senkung der Rohstoffpreise teurer geworden seien, berichtet der britische »Guardian«. Insgesamt seien 26 Marken mit großen Schildern gekennzeichnet, auf denen zu lesen sei: »Bei diesem Produkt ist das Volumen oder das Gewicht gesunken und der effektive Preis des Lieferanten gestiegen.«
Gewarnt werde etwa vor dem zuckerfreien Lipton-Eistee mit Pfirsichgeschmack von PepsiCo, dessen Flasche von 1,5 Litern auf 1,25 Liter geschrumpft sei. Die von Nestlé hergestellte Säuglingsnahrung Guigoz sei von 900 Gramm auf 830 Gramm reduziert worden, während die Viennetta-Eistorte von Unilever von 350 Gramm auf 320 Gramm schrumpfte.
Verhandlungen stehen bevor
Lindt’s „chocolat au lait extra fin“ is also among the criticized products. However, the chocolate company justifies its pricing policy. „Lindt & Sprüngli has increased its prices by an average of 9.3 percent across the group to account for local cost structures,“ explained a spokesperson for the company. „We have made efforts to offset the increased costs through efficiency improvements as much as possible. Therefore, we have only passed on the costs that we could not absorb ourselves to our customers in the form of price increases.“ PepsiCo did not respond to a request for comment. Nestlé and Unilever declined to comment.
„Ich kann es nicht umformulieren.“
The „Guardian“ suspects that Carrefour actually has tangible self-interests. It aims to exert pressure on leading consumer goods manufacturers Nestlé, PepsiCo, and Unilever in order to improve its position in the upcoming price negotiations. These negotiations are expected to start soon and should be concluded by October 15th.
Carrefour-Chef Alexandre Bompard, der auch der Lobbygruppe der Einzelhandelsbranche FDC vorsteht, hatte den Lebensmittelherstellern wiederholt vorgeworfen, dass diese den Rückgang der Rohstoffkosten nicht an die Verbraucher weitergeben.
He is supported by the French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire, who in June invited 75 large retailers and consumer groups to his ministry and urged them to lower prices. After a new round of meetings last month, Le Maire said that Unilever, Nestlé, and PepsiCo are among the companies that are not complying with the price guidelines.
Consumer groups claim that shrinkage is a common practice, which supermarkets like Carrefour are also guilty of when it comes to their own brand products.
Editor’s note: In a previous version of this article, it was mistakenly stated that the effective liter price of Lipton Ice Tea had increased by 40 percent solely due to the reduction in volume from 1.5 to 1.25 liters. This misconception is still present in the news agency report and various media outlets. However, in reality, this reduction only corresponds to a 20 percent increase. When combined with a price increase for the packaging, the effective liter price may have increased even more – as is the case with many other products, as shown in a comprehensive list by the television channel BFMTV. This increase in Lipton Ice Tea is also stated to be at least 40 percent in that list, but it does not align with the old and new prices listed there. Therefore, we have decided to remove the specific percentage at that point.