“Home Basket”similar to what’s going on Greek governmentthat is, consisting of some essential goods at affordable prices, Paris is now asking them retailers urging them to help consumers cope with high prices. “Rising food prices are a major cause for concern and everyone should help deal with this problem, including retailers,” said the French finance minister. Brino Le Mer. Speaking to French television channel RTL, Mr Le Maire stressed that “the state must take on its role, but retailers must also do more.”

The government is specifically targeting large retail chains such as Carrefour, Casino and family businesses Auchan and E.Leclerc, urging them to sell around 50 basic food items at lower prices every day starting next month. So far, however, only a few smaller chains, such as discounters Lidl and Systeme U, have shown agreement with the government’s initiative, which is at least not mandatory yet. It should be noted that these small chains recently launched their own initiative with 150 private label products that they encourage consumers to buy at lower prices. On the contrary, large chains, such as Carrefour, claim that they have already taken appropriate measures against inflation by blocking the increase in prices for a group of goods. Others, such as Auchan, responded by presenting their own initiatives and emphasizing that it is much more important to focus the “home basket” on fresh produce such as meat, fish, fruits and vegetables.

However, despite the efforts of traders, the French statistical agency INSEE predicts that food price inflation will remain at a high level of 13% during the first half of the year. Food prices are expected to be the main driver of rising inflation in the coming months, which is expected to slow down in the first half of the year and fall from 6.0% in January to 5.0% by June. The French Ministry of Finance has also investigated retailers’ profit margins, but has so far found no evidence of speculation.