Panic: a pasta strike is looming in Italy
Panic in pasta land! Italy, that is. A real pasta strike is about to take place there. A whole week without pasta? That’s already unimaginable for most Dutch people. Let alone for Italians…
The pasta strike was initiated by the Italian consumer organization Assoutenti. The reason: the price of pasta has become ridiculously high over the past year. While Italians still paid €1.84 for a kilo of pasta in 2022, that had already risen to €2.13 in 2023. For now, that increase seems set to continue. With the strike—which is supposed to last a week—Assoutenti hopes that Italian supermarkets will eventually lower pasta prices. And that the Italian government will reconsider its position, since a few weeks ago it decided to leave pasta prices as they were.
Pasta strike: expensive wheat
How did pasta prices shoot up so dramatically? It has everything to do with the war in Ukraine and inflation. Wheat, the most important ingredient for making pasta, has become enormously expensive for those two reasons. Wheat prices now seem to be falling. But manufacturers say that the pasta currently on store shelves was still made with expensive wheat. That’s why pasta is still so expensive. Although pasta prices really do seem likely to fall soon, according to Assoutenti it isn’t happening quickly enough. The accusation of ‘greedflation‘ has already been made.
Niente panico!
There are now some doubts about whether the panic is really that great. Italians are the biggest pasta eaters in the world: more than 23 kilos of pasta per person per year are consumed. On top of that, pasta in Italy is still cheaper than most staple products available there. The expectation is therefore that a large proportion of Italians will simply ignore the strike. But that doesn’t change the fact that they consider the price increases outrageous. So they’ll probably be sitting behind their plate of spaghetti feeling a little angry.
Read also:
- 9 tips from chefs for the best, simplest pasta
- 5 things not to do when you go to Italy
- Why pasta water is worth its weight in gold
Source: AD
