Pasta, flour, butter, meat, fruit and vegetables . But also coffee, bills, insurance, bank accounts, school supplies and much more. The prices and bills, extremely high for those who have to buy or use necessary services, soar even if to enrich themselves, the entrepreneurs swear, it is certainly not theirs.

An increase , in the case of shopping cart expenses, much faster than the general inflation rate , which triggers the anger of families and protests from consumer associations convinced that it is only the result of speculation to the detriment of those who cannot do without essential products.

The spotlight is thus inevitably shifting to producers and retailers, guilty for many of having inflated prices in recent years to the point that finding a plate of pasta at a restaurant for 15 euros, a pizza margherita for 9 euros, or a mug of beer for 6 euros has now become an unpleasant normality. "Those who accuse us of having increased the price lists without reason do not know the costs and sacrifices of those who manage a commercial establishment ," explains Emanuele Frongia, regional president of Fipe-Confcommercio, bluntly. He speaks of retailers as "a bottleneck in which dozens of extra expenses accumulate that must be spread across the entire budget so as not to burden the customer alone."

In Cagliari, a coffee at the bar cost 1.06 euros four years ago, today the average at the counter is 1.20 , but it can even reach one and a half. And the shopkeepers expect other increases in the price of the raw material soon, which could weigh on the cost per cup. Among the other increases expected for 2025 are expenses for cars (+59 euros), fuel (+98), school (+21), banks (+14.7), and then bills with increases of up to 169 euros for electricity and gas.

Further details and insights in the articles by Luigi Almiento and Luca Mascia in L'Unione Sarda on newsstands and on the app

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