French retailer Carrefour has started cutting prices by an average of about 10% on about 500 products in an effort to help French shoppers cope with the high cost of living, a Carrefour spokesman said on Wednesday, as cited by Reuters and Agerpres.

Discounts apply to food and hygiene products from 400 brands and 100 private label products.

According to a list published by Reuters, the discounted products range from Orangina soda, Heineken beer, Badoit mineral water to Dove deodorant and Colgate toothpaste.

The round of price cuts comes after France’s major food companies pledged to cut prices on hundreds of products starting in July. Last week, French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire threatened that financial sanctions would be imposed if the companies did not fulfill their promises.

In May, he threatened food retailers with a “refund tax” to return some of the profits from the food industry to the state budget if they did not agree to further price reduction negotiations.

Why the French government pressured retailers to lower prices

The leadership, led by Elizabeth Bourne, has expressed outrage that retail food prices remain high despite falling commodity prices. In previous months, food inflation in France reached 15%, which is a record level for this country.

Food prices rose sharply in France after food companies and retailers agreed to raise shelf prices by an average of 10% during talks in March, with both sides saying the move was necessary to cover high production costs.

But with food price increases outpacing headline inflation, Le Maire has repeatedly called for renewed talks to ensure lower commodity prices are reflected in consumers’ pockets.

“If the food industry does not return to negotiations (…), we will use all the measures at our disposal, including taxes, to recover the profits unfairly recorded on the backs of consumers,” the French minister said before a meeting with major players in the retail market , which took place in May.

With a network of 14,000 stores in nearly 40 countries, Carrefour has generated sales of 90.8 billion euros and more than 500,000 employees worldwide.