Cheaper spending in more than 23 thousand supermarkets, shops and pharmacies across Italy from October 1 to December 31, 2023: The anti-inflation quarter with discounted or controlled prices for food and consumer products, hygiene and children, created by the Meloni government, has begun. This is an initiative of the Ministry of Commerce and Made in Italy, which aims to preserve the purchasing power of citizens and families at a time when the cost of living is still affected. In order to “protect Italians from inflation”, an agreement with businesses was signed at Palazzo Chigi on September 28: Many large-scale retail chains have developed a list of “offered” products – from coffee to pasta, from soap to diapers, baby diapers, etc. From pet food to toilet paper. It is expected that there will be other participations, especially from the retail sector, in the coming days.
Fixed prices, promotions, private label products, discounted carts or a “tri-colour basket” made available to consumers at a single price. Price-controlled products will be recognized on shelves thanks to the “anti-inflation district” logo, which features a white, red and green shopping cart bearing the colors of the Italian flag. However, each of the companies participating in the initiative can independently choose which products to offer at a discounted price. In fact, in the protocol, considering the quarter in question, “the basket in which the controlled prices will be applied is determined by each distribution company, also on the basis of the concrete support of the companies in the supply chains, not excluding possible basic food and alcohol”.
Discounted tricolor car in supermarkets: first day failure
The first day of the tricolor tram was not positive. In Milan and Rome, first of all, the initiative started with the handbrake. In fact, many supermarkets still have no trace of the tricolor carts. “We had a problem with the delivery of products that were supposed to be available at a controlled price in one of the supermarkets, they will probably arrive in the next few days,” they said. In other cases, the necessary information, the enterprise logo displayed outside, and the labels indicating that the products on the shelves are at a controlled price are also missing.
In short, there were many unprepared outlets that were not yet able to “equip” the stores with the discounted products announced on Sunday, October 1. According to many, this was just an organizational delay due to the day of departure being a holiday. In fact, starting today, participating stores, supermarkets and pharmacies nationwide are expected to offer a basket of products at discounted prices. However, consumer associations fear that this quarter will turn into a “fiasco”. Assoutenti calculates that the anti-inflation basket could save families around 4 billion euros this quarter, but the total freedom left to tradesmen and businesses regarding discounted products and the discounts associated with the lack of controls in commercial establishments “represents the problem we want to solve with the government.”
The president of Assoutenti Furio said on October 4 that “the minister of business, Adolfo Urso, will meet with the associations Cncu-National Council of Consumers and Users and we will ask for careful monitoring to be started to verify the real size of the discounts applied.” Truzzi. “What is important to indicate to families whether the price of a product has started to fall is economic data, that is, data compared to the previous month,” said Massimiliano Dona, president of the National Consumers Union, “and that’s what it’s about.” “We will need to measure the effects of the anti-inflation quarter.”
With more than a thousand sales points, Rome and Turin are currently the cities with the most participants in the anti-inflation quarter. According to Ministry data, out of a total of over 23 thousand participating stores throughout Italy, the number of memberships in metropolitan cities alone is close to 7 thousand. Almost half are concentrated in three cities: Rome, which has the largest number of outlets participating in the initiative with 1,381 members, Turin (1,074) and Naples (801).
Where to find discounted products?
You can access the list of stores and sales points participating in the initiative across the country, organized by province, from this link. To facilitate consultation, each province’s list is sorted by municipality and reference postcode. Lists are constantly updated with additions and new memberships. The initiative will also apply to online shopping if the individual seller decides to display the tag in the virtual cart.
There is no detailed list of the specific products covered by the initiative, as explained by the Ministry of Trade and Made in Italy: “Each participating operator will be able to contribute to the fight against inflation by freely choosing the products that will be subject to the initiative. Anti-inflation promotions include basic needs, as well as those in the ‘shopping basket’ “It includes food and non-food consumer goods, including products for children and personal care.” In any case, the following are considered basic food items: pasta, meat, tomato puree, sugar, milk, eggs, rice, salt, flour, cereals. And non-food basics: soap, detergent, diapers, consumer medicines.
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Source: Today IT

Roy Brown is a renowned economist and author at The Nation View. He has a deep understanding of the global economy and its intricacies. He writes about a wide range of economic topics, including monetary policy, fiscal policy, international trade, and labor markets.