Shopping carts in a section of a Carrefour supermarket, in front of pasta and sauces.
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French grocery chain Carrefour has taken the unusual step of putting labels on its products that have recently shrunk in size but increased in price.
The move – both in stores and on the website – is intended to increase pressure on suppliers, who have increased prices for the chain even as raw material prices have recently fallen.
Carrefour has placed the “shrinkflation” warning labels on a range of products, from Lipton iced tea and Pepsi to boxes of Lindt chocolates and baby formula.
“The aim of stigmatizing these products is obviously to allow manufacturers to rethink their pricing policies,” said Stefen Bompais, director of customer communications at Carrefour, in an interview with Reuters.
Carrefour did not immediately respond to a CNBC request for comment.
According to Reuters, Carrefour marked 26 products with the words: “This product has seen a decrease in volume or weight and an increase in the supplier’s effective price,” as the news agency translated.
The move comes as brands will soon negotiate their space with certain retailers, Reuters said.
Carrefour announced in November 2022 a new strategic plan to address current macroeconomic, geopolitical and climate challenges, based on the idea of making its products accessible to its customer base.
Cases of shrinkage tend to increase in high inflation environments, Edgar Dworsky, founder of Mouse Print, a website that tracks cases of shrinkage in food, told CNBC in April. But these changes are typically not announced by manufacturers, making it difficult for consumers to notice the changes, he said.
—CNBC’s Mike Winters contributed to this report.
Source : www.cnbc.com