A plate of spaghetti pasta with Carbonara sauce in Italy.
Nico Tondini | Universal group of images | Getty Images
Whether it is a plate of spaghetti aglio e olio or penne arrabbiata, the value of the beloved Italian delicacy is skyrocketing – enough to justify a crisis meeting at the center of the Italian government.
Pasta prices rose 17.5% in March and 16.5% in April, in accordance with the Italian business ministry, which cited Istat data. In accordance with Refinitiv data, the jump is double that of Italy’s Consumer Price Index, which rose 8.1% year-on-year in April and 8.7% in March.
Pasta dishes in restaurants rose 6.1% year-on-year, Italian consumer rights group Assoutenti told CNBC. In accordance with a study by the International Pasta Organization from 2022, the common Italian consumes almost 23 kg of pasta per yr.
The increased retail prices are attributable to the indisputable fact that producers at the moment are selling off their stock of pasta, which was built up when raw material costs were higher.
“That is attributable to the sale of stocks produced at higher raw material costs,” Assoutenti CEO Furio Truzzi said, citing higher wheat and energy prices.
In March 2022, the value of wheat reached its highest level in greater than a decade because the Russian invasion of Ukraine progressed. Each nations are huge suppliers of agricultural products to the world market.
Nevertheless, Truzzi noted that input costs have since fallen, with higher pasta prices now driven by other aspects.
“The prices are kept high to make more profits. Prices will only come down in the face of a major drop in consumption,” Assoutent said, proposing plans to chop pasta consumption through a “pasta strike” lasting at the least 15 days. In 2007, The Italians organized a one-day strike against buying pasta when prices increased by almost 20%.
International wheat prices fell 2.3% in April to their lowest level since July 2021. Food and Agriculture Organization.
“Wheat prices are falling from their historic peak after the invasion of Ukraine, but they continue to be high,” Nandita Roy, the World Bank’s foreign affairs officer, told CNBC. She noted that the World Bank forecasts a fall in wheat prices of 17.4 percent. in 2023 in comparison with 2022
Prices of durum wheat, a kind of wheat often used to make pasta, have also been declining in recent months. “Nevertheless, there are numerous country-specific aspects that will explain the rise in pasta prices in Italy,” added Roy.
Emergency pasta meeting
Two weeks ago, Italy’s Minister of Economic Development, Adolfo Urso called an emergency meeting starting a discussion a couple of pasta price increase.
Pasta producers, consumer associations and government officials were amongst those that attended the meeting – some people called for a cap on pasta prices to stem rising prices, a request that was rejected.
A mix harvester moves through a field of durum wheat throughout the mowing of the summer harvest in Viterbo, Italy on Friday, July 25, 2014.
Alessia Pierdomenico | Bloomberg | Getty Images
The newest pasta price survey “already shows the primary, albeit faint, signs of price decline, an indication that the price could drop significantly in the approaching months” note from the Italian business ministry said.
“The pasta on today’s shelves was made a couple of months ago from durum wheat purchased after the stock market [an] even earlier, with the energy costs of the wartime peak,” reads an announcement from Unione Italiana Food, an association representing Italian food producers. Higher packaging and logistics costs have also contributed to high pasta prices, the association said in an announcement.
The statement added that the production price of pasta increased by 8.4% in one yr, which is “at the extent of the common inflation rate recorded for consumer goods.”
“Costs have fallen, but haven’t returned to previous levels and are still quite high in comparison with those recorded in the 2020/2021 season,” added the organization.
“We would really like to depart this present day with the understanding that pasta is the answer, not the issue.”