Barilla will reduce the prices of many of its products starting from February and throughout 2024. It is undoubtedly an important election after a period of rapidly increasing inflation, which puts pressure on the consumption and shopping baskets of Italians and, despite the decline, continues to pose a heavy burden.
The Parma-based multinational company, the leader of the pasta market in Italy and abroad, announced that prices will drop between 7 and 13% starting next month until December 31, 2024.
“As we learned from the published note, we believe that this operation well represents the strong sense of responsibility with which our company has always operated, to honor and confirm the trust that people and relevant stakeholders have placed in us”. “This is a significant operation to reduce sales prices directly to customers and distributors.” Therefore, individual supermarket chains will have the final say on the final prices of products.
Products affected by price cuts
The price reduction operation will affect most types of pasta, not just the famous Spaghetti n. Hence 5 – and then various Mulino Bianco products including biscuits, snacks, rusks, packaged breads. But also “some Pavesi articles such as Gocciole, a brand belonging to the group”.
In the price race recorded in 2023, the price of pasta has often become a symbol of inflation alarm and an impact on consumers’ pockets that is difficult to ignore. Istat data gives the pulse of the rise: From 2019 to 2023, dry pasta increased by 40.1%.
Compared to May 2022, the price of dried pasta in the same period last year was recorded at +17.5%, well above the average inflation value.
The reaction of the National Consumers Union to the operation initiated by Barilla is quite cold: President Massimiliano Dona comments, “Better late than never.” According to the association, pasta prices started to increase from July 2021 to April 2023. “Then – explains Dona – a slow decline began, albeit with a fluctuating trend – 4.2% from April to December 2023 An absolutely insufficient decrease: if in reality it is after the bad harvest in Canada in 2021, there was the initial basis for the increases, and to this were added the high energy costs of 2022; in 2023, there is no longer any justification for keeping prices so exaggerated, even if electricity and gas are still expensive. More than before the crisis. 500 grams of pasta, which we used to buy for 0.59 euros “It is unacceptable to find it for 1.49 euros, that is, to pay more than two and a half times more,” he said.
Barilla’s operation will undoubtedly have a positive impact on alleviating inflation pressure, but it is also an operation that responds to commercial logics for the recovery of competitiveness. For example, while Barilla pasta sales remain remarkable, they have fallen by over 14% in favor of the company’s other direct competitor brands (Iri data).
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.
