Quick Take — Retail prices in Italy and inflation: antitrust investigates

In a nutshell, food inflation is higher than total inflation (which includes other items, such as energy, services, etc.) and therefore the AGCM opened a file on it.

We fear it has done so unnecessarily because the prices of many consumer goods – used every day in the lives of Italians – have risen sharply, much higher than average, even in the food sector as a whole. Below – in the first image – you will find some examples. This has also happened in other countries (e.g. meat in the USA).

Even during Covid- 19 a similar investigation was triggered, which then ended up in thin air: the real, long-standing problem, which has never been addressed and solved, is that of farmers’ profitability (see Repubblica piece below). On this issue you can also read this article.

Written on 24 December, updated on 25 December 2025

PDO & PGI certifications

‘Two thirds of the pork legs processed in Italy come from pigs bred in Spain and Northern Europe…’. And unfortunately some scandals – such as prosciuttopoli – have shaken the sector: we need ad hoc marketing campaigns that explain the value of the PDO

Quick Take — Glyphosate: one of the most influential studies ensuring the safety of the herbicide has been withdrawn, twenty-five years after its publication

A 2000 study concluding the safety of the well-known herbicide, widely cited since then, has just been officially refuted by the journal that published it. The scientists who signed the study are suspected of having endorsed a text prepared by Monsanto executives…

In 2017, in part of its investigation into the ‘Monsanto Papers’, Le Monde reported that Monsanto executives exchanged emails in 2015 on how to produce new summaries intended to prove the safety of glyphosate in the scientific literature. The aim was to convince regulatory agencies… According to a count by Le Monde, it is cited about forty times in the 2015 European expert report that led to the reauthorisation of the herbicide in 2017. Source: Le Monde

Monsanto’s Roundup was classified as ‘possibly carcinogenic’

Read about lobbying by Monsanto – now owned by Bayer – here.

Written on 13 December, updated on 16 December 2025. Below: Roundup sold on Walmart shelves.

 

Quick Take — The effect of climate change on coffee: more and more complicated to grow Arabica. And quality suffers

Brazilian producers are choosing more drought-resistant species such as Robusta. But the taste is changing, getting worse: more bitter and with more caffeine. Behind a bean an entire supply chain is changing face: the Arabica variety, Brazilian farmers explain, requires more stable climatic conditions, average altitudes and moderate temperatures than the current climatic extremes. Then there is the problem of inflation and the cost of coffee at the bar: this year Arabica is priced 50 per cent higher than a year ago.One way to tackle the climate challenge is to increase production of the Robusta variety, which has shown itself to be more resilient than Arabica: it tolerates heat and water stress better, and can also be grown at lower altitudes. These characteristics make it safer to the point that in Brazil it has grown at an average annual rate of about 4.8 % compared to 2-2.5 % for Arabica. Green&Blue wonders whether consumers will be able to adapt. In Italy certainly, because very often the coffee that is drunk in public places is bad.

Quick Take — The price of hazelnuts, essential for Ferrero’s spreads and chocolates, has almost doubled since the beginning of the summer

after a spring frost and a pest epidemic in Turkey reduced the amount of hazelnuts available for the confectionery industry.

Ferrero, which consumes about a quarter of global hazelnut production , halted purchases, drawing on its own stocks and sourcing from Chile and the US.

London-based traders say prices have further inflated as Turkish middlemen have aggressively bought from farmers, betting that the world’s largest hazelnut consumer will soon be forced back into the market.

In a normal year, Turkey harvests between 600,000 and 700,000 tonnes of hazelnuts, almost two-thirds of the global supply of around 1.1 million tonnes.

The hazelnut situation, like that of cocoa or meat and milk, will create further inflation.

Drafted 31 October, updated 2 November 2025