Tensions between supermarkets and food companies over abusive price maneuvers

Amid the economic normalization process that Argentina is experiencing following the recent lifting of the currency control, an intense dispute has erupted among the main supermarket chains, wholesalers, and food production companies. The focus: price lists with unjustified increases of up to 10%, which sparked immediate rejection from the commercial sector and a strong response from the National Government.

Alarms were raised with the arrival of new price lists from major food companies like Unilever and Molinos, which aimed to impose hikes of up to 12%. However, the country's main chains, grouped in the United Supermarkets Association (ASU), and the wholesale supermarkets represented by the Argentine Chamber of Distributors and Wholesale Self-Service (Cadam), publicly rejected this maneuver that finds no economic or tax justification.

The Minister of Economy, Luis Caputo, celebrated a sign of rationality from the business sector this Thursday: "Molinos rolled back all the price increases. Good reaction. And above all, great management by the supermarkets, taking care of their customers", he wrote on his official X account. The message made it clear that the State is not absent and that, even in a context of greater market freedom, consumer protection remains a priority.

From Cadam, Vice President Armando Farina explained with technical precision why the increases were unfounded: "The lifting of the currency control doesn't represent a devaluation, but a positive market opening. Companies were already operating with the MEP dollar or Cash with Liquidation, which even dropped after the opening of the official dollar", he stated. He added: "The new official exchange rate released is exclusively aimed at individuals, so it doesn't directly affect the operations of companies."

Far from the traditional narrative that seeks to blame monetary or exchange policy, Farina pointed to the true culprits of high prices: the distorting taxes and "hidden costs" that accumulate throughout the entire commercial chain, from producer to consumer. Among them, he mentioned mandatory insurance, union contributions, and contributions dating back decades, such as the controversial contribution to the Argentine Institute of Professional and Technological Training for Commerce (INACAP), recently eliminated by the Executive.

In line with these statements, the Undersecretary of Consumer Defense and Commercial Loyalty, Fernando Blanco Muiño, was categorical: "There is no reason, neither exchange nor tax, that justifies the increase in price lists that some intend to impose on consumers. In Javier Milei's government, there is no room for opportunists."

ASU also expressed itself in the same vein, reaffirming its commitment not to validate lists with speculative increases: "We want to communicate to society our firm purpose of not accepting price lists from our suppliers that contain excessive and/or speculative increases", they communicated.