Les effets de la réforme de la politique sucrière et des politiques de taxation sur le marché des boissons sucrées

After a review of change in food consumption during the last century, we highlight some disconnection between price movements of agricultural products and consumer prices. In a second step we assess the potential impact of the reform of EU sugar policy on prices and consumption of soft drinks (SD). We show that a 36% reduction in sugar price lead to lower retail prices of regular SD brands by approximately 4% causing an increase in consumption of these products by 10% at the expense of diet products and fruit juices. We also assess the impact of taxation of SD, which should come into force in France on 1 January 2012. According to our results the 0.0716  €/L tax will increase retail prices by 11% leading to a decrease in consumption of approximately 3.4 L/person per year.