Pasta prices have surged, prompting crisis meetings in Italy and calls for a strike

Whether it’s a plate of spaghetti aglio e olio or penne arrabbiata, the price of Italy’s most popular staple is soaring — enough for the Italian government to call a crisis meeting at its core.

Pasta prices rose 17.5% in March and 16.5% in April, According to Istat data cited by the Italian Ministry of CommerceThe increase was double the figure for Italy’s consumer price index, which rose 8.1% in April and 8.7% in March from a year earlier, according to Refinitiv data.

Assoutenti, an Italian consumer advocacy group, told CNBC that pasta prices in restaurants are up 6.1% year-over-year. According to a 2022 survey by the International Pasta Organization, the average Italian consumes nearly 23 kilograms of pasta per year.

The reason for the increase in retail prices is that producers are now selling pasta stocks they produced when raw material costs were higher.

“This is due to the disposal of inventories with higher raw material costs,” said Furio Truzzi, president of Assoutenti, pointing to higher wheat and energy prices.

In March 2022, wheat prices hit their highest level in more than a decade as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine progressed. Both countries are huge suppliers of agricultural products to the global market.

However, Truzzi noted that input costs have come down since then, while pasta price increases are now being driven by other factors.

“Prices are kept high for greater profit. Prices will only fall if consumption falls significantly,” Assoutent said, proposing a “pasta strike” to reduce pasta consumption for at least 15 days. In 2007, Italians stage a one-day strike Against buying pasta when prices are up nearly 20%.

International wheat prices fell 2.3% in April to their lowest level since July 2021. food and agriculture organization.

“Wheat prices have come off record highs following the Ukrainian invasion but are still elevated,” Nandita Roy, a World Bank external affairs officer, told CNBC via email. She noted that the World Bank’s 2023 wheat Prices will be 17.4% lower than in 2022.

The price of durum wheat, a type of wheat commonly used in pasta, It has also been declining in recent months“However, there are a number of country-specific factors that could explain the rise in pasta prices,” Roy added.

Two weeks ago, Italian Economic Development Minister Adolfo Urso call an emergency meeting Start a discussion about rising pasta prices.

Pasta producers, consumer associations and government officials attended the meeting – some called for a cap on pasta prices to curb price rises, but the initiative was defeated.

The latest pasta price survey “has shown the first, albeit weak, signs of falling prices, a sign that costs could fall sharply in the coming months,” a note Sources from the Italian Ministry of Commerce said.

Unione Italiana Food, an association representing Italian food producers, said in a statement: “The pasta on the shelves today was produced with durum wheat months ago, prices were even earlier, and energy costs were at their wartime peak. Higher packaging and logistics costs are also one of the reasons for the rise in pasta prices, the statement said.

Pasta prices rose 8.4 percent in a year, “in line with the average inflation index for consumer goods,” the statement added.

“Costs have indeed come down, but they have not returned to past levels and remain high compared to the 2020/2021 record,” the group added. “We want to end the day understanding that spaghetti is the solution, rather than the problem.”