The “Careful Prices” program, which was relaunched by the national government last January, will be extended again until the end of the year, but it will undergo some changes between its products and in the reference prices, which will have increases of up to 9%.
The “Careful Prices” program , which was relaunched by the national government last January, will be extended again until the end of the year , but it will undergo some changes between its products and in the reference prices, which will have increases of up to 9%.
“Careful prices” is a program conceived by the management of Alberto Fernández as a reference of values for the categories of mass consumption, which includes products from leading brands. Although the initial intention was to avoid modifications in the listings for a year, the coronavirus pandemic and the “Maximum Prices” program , which establishes the freezing of all food, beverages and cleaning products, distorted this vision and forced some flexibility clauses , which led to greater difficulties in agreeing with the companies.
Attentive to this, the Secretary of Commerce of the Nation, Paula Español , had to authorize for the last quarter of the year a score of withdrawals and incorporations of products , and also considered some modifications to the presentation of items that were already in the program. Thus, the lists will consist of about 400 products , almost 50 more than the current ones.
As on other occasions, Español also approved several increases around the 5% average , with some items going up to 9%. However, they will be insufficient for the mass consumer industry, given that their costs were increased by an average 25% in recent months, published the Infobae portal.
Products that will be dropped from the “Care Prices” program include: Unilever's 3kg Ala brand soap powder; the limestone oil of Sanicare 220 ml, from Pretty Laboratories; Gallo rice of 500 grams, from Molinos Río de la Plata; the 350-gram can of beans Inalpa, from Industrias Alimenticias Pavón Arriba; the Fanacoa mayonnaise of 475 grams, from Unilever; Bunge's 1 kilo Primor rice; the red wine Michel Torino and the red and white brand Crespi, from Bodegas Peñaflor; and the Resero and Arizu de Fecovita wines.
In turn, the presentation of the Lucchetti brand premixes from Molinos will change; from Pampers Supersec diapers; the glass, kitchen and bathroom cleaners from Laboratorios Ecovita; and Knorr broth from Unilever. In the case of diapers, packages that had between 34 and 54 units, depending on the size, will now be 16 to 26. The same happens with the Knorr broth, which went from 12 to 6 units.
Both the losses and the changes in the presentations are explained by the impossibility of guaranteeing production in the current pandemic context , as well as the inconvenience of continuing to sell at a loss without the possibility of compensation, due to the validity of the “Maximum Prices” .
With regard to the “ highs ”, the Dos Hermanos firm's rice tostadas with and without salt will be included in the program; two Nivea sunscreens; Jasmine and Essential Oils shampoo and conditioner, Suave brand, from Unilever; two Lux brand toilet soaps (black orchid x 3 and black orchid); Aerosol foot deodorant Band-Aids; Johnson's Ceramicol Aerosol Furniture Polish; Gigante brand stain remover stick of 1×75 grams, by José Guma; Unilever Drive Matic Roses and Lilac 3k Powder Soap; Virulana classic swab; wafer filled with Billiken nougat and peanut paste; Strawberry and lemon Torpedo ice cream (5 units); Nesquik cocoa powder (150 grams); and Molto tomato puree in its 520 gram container.
