While the world's media is bemoaning rising food prices, the French government is sniffing around the food industry for signs of gleeful profiteering. If it is right, the long-term losses of the nouveau cher will be far greater than the handful of centimes gained.
Premier Francois Fillon and his squad suspect the likes of Unilever and Procter & Gamble of hiking prices over the odds — and on products that have never seen hide nor hair of a commodity.
There is no question that taking advantage of consumers like this would be entirely scurrilous. In the current costly climate, everyone in the food chain, from grower to consumer, must expect to bear some of the brunt — but only where it is justified.
The general theme of the 2007 financial results from ingredients companies like Kerry and Greencore has been: "It's been a tough year alright, be we've done what we can and we're kinda proud of our results given the circumstances".
They've tightened their belts to save as much as possible, streamlined operations, and faced the fact that there would be some impact on margins.
Read the full FoodProductionDaily.com story here.