Food price inflation in France will likely fall significantly starting in January, following the government's plan to bring forward annual price negotiations between retailers and consumer goods companies initially planned for next year, Carrefour chairman and chief executive Alexandre Bompard recently said.
"Starting in January, we should see the level of inflation come down significantly," he said, speaking on French television channel BFM TV.
Food Price Inflation
Bompard said that he expected food price inflation to come down well below 10% to closer to about 5%.
August data released on Thursday showed that food inflation - though easing for the fifth consecutive month from a peak earlier this year - is still running at 11.1%, nearly twice the overall inflation rate.
Bompard had warned on Tuesday that high prices were forcing consumers to cut back massively on essential goods.
Price Increases
Retailers and consumer goods companies in France have been trading blame over who is responsible for the increase in prices in supermarkets even as the cost of raw materials has been falling in recent months.
The Carrefour executive added that he expected food inflation to remain higher in coming years than levels over past decades of between zero and 1% due to climate and geopolitical factors.
"The time of zero food inflation, I believe, is behind us," he said.
Read More: French Consumers Massively Cutting Essential Purchases, Carrefour CEO Warns
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