Spaghetti producers said on Wednesday that their prices would have to go up because of higher costs, fuelling a protest by consumer groups who have called a 'pasta strike'.
The Industrial Union of Italian Pasta Makers (UNIPI) said 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 Chairman Furio Bragagnolo said.
The union said the price rises had already been introduced in part, a phenomenon which has generated a flood of complaints from consumer rights' associations.
The groups have retaliated by calling on Italians to forego all food shopping on Thursday.
If nothing else, they want shoppers to shun pasta, which has been chosen as the symbol of the protest.
Codacons, Adoc, Adusbef and Federconsumatori, Italy's top consumer groups, have denounced what they say is an unjustifiable increase in the price of staple foods such as pasta, bread and milk.
They say these items are now costing up to 20% more than they did two months ago.
The groups say other foodstuffs such as olive oil, coffee and breakfast cereals are also costing a lot more.
Farmers have given their backing to the Thursday protest.
Farmers' union Coldiretti told reporters that increases in the price 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 750%," said Coldiretti representative Stefano Masini.
The centre-left government has sought to play down the row, saying that there is "no justification for the recent price alarm".
But it has agreed to hold a round of talks next week with representatives of all sectors in the food production and retail chain.
The government argued last month that recent surges in international grain and dairy markets could not influence consumer prices in a "significant way".
It nonetheless urged central and local authorities to monitor price trends at shops and supermarkets and ensure "market and competition transparency".
Coldiretti noted on Monday that pasta sales had fallen 5.6% and bread sales 6.1% since the start of the year, attributing the drop to higher prices.
