Its low price has made it a symbol of pop culture. Cristaline water will cost more, the brand announced to Le Parisien. A thunderclap after 20 years of stability, around 1 euro per pack. The last increase took place in 2002. “The sharp rise in transport and energy costs, and the soaring prices of raw materials, particularly for PET (PolyEthylene Terephthalate) have forced Cristaline to review its selling price “, formalized Sources Alma, the parent company of the group, in a press release published this Thursday, confirming information published on specialized sites.
Now a bottle of Cristaline will cost around 1.5 cents more, which represents an increase of 10 cents on a pack, or just under 10% of the price before this change. “Cristaline thus remains, and by far, the most accessible spring water on the market among the national brands of bottled water”, puts the group into perspective.
However, inflation got the better of Cristaline’s strategy of stability at the lowest price: “The brand has, for more than 20 years and the transition to the euro, implemented investments, logistical optimizations and reductions in of packaging so as not to increase the price. However, in a degraded economic situation and a generalized inflationary context, all consumer products were impacted”, regrets the group.
5,2 % d’inflation
In recent years, the top-selling supermarket brand has cut costs in an attempt to keep up with price trends. It has reduced the weight of its bottle and its cap to consume less plastic, a material which has increased by 39% in the fall. And diversified its water sources, drawing from around thirty of them, to reduce transport costs.
Inflation accelerated again in France in May, to 5.2% over one year, exceeding the 5% mark for the first time since September 1985, according to an initial estimate published on Tuesday by INSEE. It could lead to an average additional cost of 90 euros per month for households, one third due to the rise in energy prices, one third from transport and one third from the expected increase in the average basket in supermarkets, according to a study published on Wednesday.
The Inflation Observatory of the magazine 60 million consumers estimates that it will be necessary to pay “on average 90 euros more” each month to “absorb the general rise in prices”.