VIDEO. In Saint-Denis, inflation is hitting the markets hard: “Before, I bought by the kilo, now it’s by the piece”

2023-04-20 23:49:19

“Because of inflation, we have to reduce the quantities! “. Customers questioned on the markets of Saint-Denis (93) and Gennevilliers (92), which are among the departments most affected by the price increase, all come to the same conclusion. To cope, they have reduced the quantities they buy. “I don’t want to deprive myself so I reduce the quantities”, testifies Patrick, a retiree used to the Saint-Denis market.

Nelly continues to buy products from her butcher-caterer… But “in smaller quantities”. “Before, I took slightly larger trays, now I take smaller ones,” explains the retiree who has just bought two portions of raw vegetables and a croque-monsieur for lunch. “I receive 1,300 euros per month. I can not do it anymore. I even had to make a loan to be able to eat,” she continues.

A few kilometers away, at the Grésillons market in Gennevilliers (Hauts-de-Seine), Habiba, employed in an nursing home and mother of three children, also had to change her eating habits. “We have to reduce! Before, we did not count the number of fruits we ate per day. Now it’s quantity. One orange a day, no more,” she laments. Same thing for Mariam, a nurse, who came to buy vegetables and fish. “Before, I bought by the kilo, now it’s by the piece. I pay much more attention. Nothing goes in the trash anymore, life is so expensive! “.

A change in consumption practices that has a direct impact on merchants. “Customers haven’t left, but they’re buying less. Before, sea bream, we sold about ten boxes on Saturdays. And today, we don’t even make five boxes…”, observes Ahmed, fishmonger at three markets in Ile-de-France.