Italy's anti-trust authority has opened an investigation to determine whether the recent hike in pasta prices was the result of price-fixing by two associations representing pasta makers.
The probe will seek to determine whether the Industrial Union of Italian Pasta Makers (Unipi) and the national union of small and medium-sized food companies UnionAlimentare created a cartel to fix pasta prices.
According to the anti-trust authority, the prices indicated last month by the two organizations "may have constituted a point of reference for the final product, leading individual producers to adopt a common strategy rather than compete against each other in view of higher prices for wheat and flour".
The probe, which is set to conclude by November 30, 2008, came as a result of a complaint filed by the consumers' rights group Federconsumatori.
In the complaint, the group cited a meeting between around 50 Unipi members, who represent 85% of Italy' pasta production, during which a decision was allegedly made to increase pasta prices.
During a preliminary investigation, the anti-trust authority found that similar indications had been made by UnionAlimentare.
Both organizations were informed on Tuesday that they were the subject of an anti-trust probe.
Pasta producers said in September that their prices would have to go up because of higher costs for raw materials.
Unipi announced that pasta prices would increase by 12-14 cents, meaning that the retail cost of a half-kilo packet of pasta would range from 43 to 95 euro cents, depending on the quality.
"That's the right price," said Unipi, justifying the hikes by stressing that the price of raw materials had shot up in recent months.
"Pasta prices have remained much the same over the last 15 years, despite inflation. It remains a product which is basic to the Italian diet and doesn't cost very much," Unipi said.
The announcement generated a flood of complaints from consumer rights' associations which organized a one-day pasta strike, urging Italians to forego all food shopping.
Those unable to follow such a strict boycott were asked to shun pasta in particular, the symbol of the protest.
Farmers gave their backing to the protest and the Coldiretti farmers' union pointed out that the increases in the prices of bread and pasta had "nothing to do with wheat prices, which have remained the same since 1985".
"But since then, the gap between the price of wheat and the price of a loaf has increased by 750%," Coldiretti claimed.
According to Coldiretti, higher prices had resulted in a 5.6% decline in pasta sales and a 6.1% drop in bread sales since the start of the year.
