Food inflation will continue to hit French consumers until the fall, President Emmanuel Macron said, as the government looks to crack down on big food companies’ high margins.
(Bloomberg) — Food inflation will continue to hit French consumers until the fall, President Emmanuel Macron said, as the government looks to crack down on big food companies’ high margins.
“I’ll be honest, food prices will be difficult until the end of the summer,” Macron said in an interview with Le Parisien newspaper published Sunday evening.
Macron added that negotiations with big food companies could be reopened “at certain times.” Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire earlier this week called on companies to renegotiate with retailers to pass on lower costs to consumers or face tougher measures from the government.
The worst cost-of-living crisis in a generation is putting additional pressure on Macron, who already faces mass protests over his decision to push through pension reform.
In France, the price of cooking a traditional coq-au-vin dish has climbed 15.4% from a year earlier, above headline inflation, according to Bloomberg’s custom food index for the country.
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