It’s a Sign of the Times
In October of last year I wrote in this space about the pursuit of French retailer Carrefour to redirect “shrinkflation” blame from it back to the food and beverage manufacturers. The retailer claimed that it was shouldering the responsibility of manufacturers cutting their own costs by reducing the amount of product sold in a package but charging the same amount as when there was more. It said that consumers were upset with the store chain, holding it at fault. Carrefour then began displaying signs next to the products on its shelves that were charging the same amount for less. At the time I wondered what the repercussions would be. Turns out, it was government action that seems to have no impact at all on manufacturers.
A new rule was announced in April of this year by the French government that requires stores to tell customers when a product becomes smaller but the price stays the same or increases. And as Carrefour did voluntarily last year, retailers are now meant to place signage near affected food or household items. The rule went into effect in July.
While consumer groups and Carrefour appear to be happy about the new requirements, other retailers don’t seem to be too thrilled, with some representatives telling the Associated Press it should be the manufacturers’ responsibility to make consumers aware of the change, not them.
Personally, I find the entire situation and its resolution hilarious. Carrefour wanted to punish manufacturers because it was tired of being blamed by consumers and garnered enough visibility to get the government involved, only to have government do what it usually does with oversight like this—which is miss the mark—and now retailers are on the hook if they don’t follow the rule. For all I know, Carrefour is counting this as win-win because the chain gets what it wanted while getting to aggravate competitors to boot.
I haven’t been able to talk to any manufacturers that are involved in this situation, nor have I seen comments from any other outlets about it beyond very political answers along the lines of, “Yes, we’ve made adjustments to our product.” I can’t imagine manufacturers being too bothered by the outcome since it doesn’t affect them a whole lot, but I don’t know. Maybe it is making a difference with consumers and they’re buying other brands. I guess time will tell. FE