CONTACT:
Luca Beroletti
European Affairs Manager
Consumer Choice Center
luca@consumerchoicecenter.org

France’s ban on grocery store discounts won’t stop Nutella riots and won’t help consumers

WASHINGTON, D.C. – On Wednesday, France announced it would ban ‘buy one, get one free’ deals in grocery stores throughout the country, a reaction to the Nutella riots last week.

Luca Bertoletti, the European Affairs Manager for the Consumer Choice Center (CCC) said such a measure aims to help farmers and the agricultural sector in France but will end up hurting consumers who rely on low prices.

“This is yet another instance of France putting its farmers’ interests above those of its own citizens. Outlawing ‘buy one, get one free’ may enrich farmers, but it harms ordinary consumers who take advantage of these lower prices to buy food for their families,” said Luca Bertoletti, European Affairs Manager of the Consumer Choice Center.

“The problem of French agriculture can’t be resolved by limiting consumer choice but rethinking and reforming the entire system agricultural policy of France. That means modernizing agriculture and making it competitive in a globalized world.

“Regulated cartels, as history teaches us, in specific areas such as agriculture raise the prices of ordinary goods for everyone, when instead grocery stores could offer discounts and sell more products.

“If the intention of the policy is to make it harder for struggling families to buy their groceries, then the French government will succeed,” said Bertoletti.

***CCC European Affairs Manager Luca Bertoletti is available to speak with accredited media on consumer regulations and consumer choice issues. Please send media inquiries HERE.***

—

The CCC represents consumers in over 100 countries across the globe. We closely monitor regulatory trends in Ottawa, Washington, Brussels, Geneva and other hotspots of regulation and inform and activate consumers to fight for #ConsumerChoice. Learn more at consumerchoicecenter.org.