Italian group calls off pasta strike after cost reduction, but product prices are still depressed
MILAN (AP) — Italians can enjoy lower pasta prices, but have to face higher prices for fruits and vegetables across the board.
Italy’s industry ministry reported last week that pasta prices had fallen by an average of 0.3% in May compared to a month earlier, saying a monitoring system it had set up was having the intended effect on price cuts.
The result is the consumer group Assoutenti has called off a pasta strike planned for this weekintended to depress prices by reducing demand.
However, President Furio Truzzi told The Associated Press that despite the general declines, pasta prices are stubbornly high in some cities and the group is still considering launching targeted strikes later this summer.
The price of a kilogram (2.2 pounds) of pasta had fallen to 2.12 euros ($2.32) in the Adriatic port city of Ancona from a peak of 2.44 euros in March, and to 2.02 euros in Genoa from a peak of 2.38 euros. In many cities the price dropped below 2 euros.
But inflation is still a problem for Italian cuisines. Vegetable prices rose by an average of almost 15% year-on-year in May, following an 11% increase in April, while potato prices rose by 22%, compared to the 9% increase recorded a month earlier, according to the Italian Statistical Office, ISTAT.
Assoutenti is pushing for a similar monitoring board for vegetable and fruit priceswhich it said could be the result of speculation linked to recent storms that damaged some crops.
