Although the cost per kilo of sugar is quite low, on the shelves of supermarkets, hyper and discount stores the price of this product has increased by almost 60 percent in just one year. In March 2022, a kilogram of beet sugar cost an average of 0.86 euros, in March 2023 it costs 1.36 euros, and the price has been rising steadily and steadily (+1.1% compared to February). Sugar price increases do not only affect Italian consumers: they are also due to international factors and have complex reasons, including last season's drought, which reduced productivity; European farmers' choice to allocate land to more profitable production, which caused them to lose 5 percent of their beet acreage; and higher energy prices, which penalized sugar factories due to high production costs. In addition, internationally, the price is influenced by the relative convenience of ethanol production. Rising energy product prices and biofuel production have prompted many producers to divert their crops to ethanol production, making the raw material available for sugar production scarcer (and more expensive). Sugar price increases began from fall 2021 and intensified during the summer of last year.