Cart in a Carrefour supermarket in Chambourcy, France. File photoPARIS, May 31.The best-selling product in France, Cristaline drinking water, will rise in price for the first time in 20 years — against the backdrop of record inflation and rising energy costs, BFMTV reports, citing manufacturers. Currently, in French supermarkets, the price of a package of Cristaline water in bottles of 1.5 liters is approximately one euro. In 2021, over 233 million bottles were sold in the country. According to the channel, the owner of the brand, the Alma group, decided to raise the price. Consumption expert Olivier Dover says that the increase will be about 10%. The TV channel calls the producers' decision historic. Back in 2012, the creator of the Cristaline brand, Pierre Papillot (died in 2017), stated that its price has not changed for more than ten years, since the transition to the euro in 1999.
From semolina to meat. The French complained about a sharp rise in the price of products. This stability was due to an increase in factory productivity, a decrease in the weight of plastic in bottles (just over 20 grams per bottle compared to 30 grams for competitors), an increase in the number of sources from which water is extracted, in order to reduce transport costs. But in 2022 year, rising inflation was too high even for Cristaline, the article notes. With the rise in oil prices, the cost of PET plastic, according to the commodity barometer, rose by almost 40% from October to May. Added to this is the cost of fuel for transportation between sources, bottling plants and retail outlets. It was previously reported that, according to preliminary estimates by Eurostat, annual inflation in 19 eurozone countries accelerated to an all-time record of 8.1% from 7.4 % a month ago.
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