A consumer group is calling for a “pasta strike” in Italy as the price of the staple soars by more than twice the rate of inflation.
The Assoutenti advocacy group is urging a week-long national pasta strike starting on June 22 after the government in Rome held a crisis meeting last month and decided not to intervene on prices.
That is even though costs for food commodities have fallen for months from record highs, including wheat for the flour used to make pasta. The French government reached a three-month agreement with supermarket chains for them to cut prices on hundreds of staples and other foods, which is expected to be extended through the summer. The UK – where food inflation has reached 45-year highs – is discussing a similar move.Countries like Hungary, with the highest food inflation in the European Union, and Croatia have mandated price controls for items like cooking oil, some pork cuts, wheat flour and milk.
Prices for food and non-alcoholic drinks have actually fallen in Europe, from 17.5% in the 20-country euro area in March to a still-painful 15% in April.It comes as energy prices – key to growing and transporting what we eat — have dropped from record highs last year. But economists say it will be many months before prices in shops settle back down.
In Europe, turning to price controls plays to voters, who get constant reminders of the inflation every time they hit the checkout counter, said Neil Shearing, group chief economist for Capital Economics.Such controls could actually make food inflation worse by increasing demand from shoppers but discouraging new supply, he said.
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