According to a zoom study by the Cetelem Observatory with Harris Interactive and Toluna, 69% of French people have given up buying certain products in the last 12 months. A sacrifice caused by inflation, reports BFMTV.

The products concerned are mainly ready meals, fresh fish, alcohol, meat and appetizer biscuits. 33% of respondents would no longer buy fruits and vegetables. The rise in prices would also impact the purchase of dairy products, because 23% of French people in difficulty would no longer have the means to buy them.

All households affected

Of these 69 per cent, 30 per cent would have been forced to do without certain essential products. The vast majority of these French people would be young people under 35 years old and low-income households. But inflation doesn't just impact struggling households. In fact, 54% of high-income households also say they have given up fresh produce or "pleasure" foods.

A trend that pushes consumers to turn to low-cost brands in order to be able to buy more products, at a lower cost. The latter would make it a point of honor to limit waste. They would pay a lot of attention to promotions and forego other expenses to be able to eat.

Eat less

Despite this, 1 in 2 French people would have admitted to eating in smaller quantities. 45% believe they consume more products that have exceeded expiry dates and 37% of them would eat less balanced. For the majority, this situation would be permanent. 74% of respondents believe that the rise in inflation will continue. An opinion that the Bank of France does not share. According to her, the increase should end in the coming months.



In the meantime, the government has announced an "anti-inflation quarter" as well as a food voucher that should see the light of day in 2023. The commercial operation which, far from imposing on supermarkets an anti-inflation basket led by the government, aims to offer, according to Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire, "the lowest possible price" on a selection of "hundreds" of products. Their choice will be made by the distributors, the operation to take place from March 15 to June 15.

  • Economy
  • Consumption
  • Inflation
  • Feeding
  • Mass distribution