There have been crazy scenes in supermarkets across France. Shoppers have been fighting and punching each other to buy jars of the hazelnut spread Nutella. A nationwide chain of supermarkets cut the price of it by 70 per cent. The supermarket Intermarché launched a promotion on 950-gram jars of the sweet treat on January 25. The cost was slashed from €4.50 to €1.41. Long queues formed outside stores, but shoppers lost their cool in the aisles. A witness at one store described the chaos. She told French media: "They fought like animals. A woman had her hair pulled, an elderly lady had a cardboard box put on her head, and another woman had a bloody hand. It was terrible."

The maker of Nutella is an Italian company called Ferrero. It said it had nothing to do with the discount. It tweeted: "The decision for the promotion was taken [only] by Intermarché." It added: "We condemn the consequences of this operation, which created confusion and disappointment among customers." The supermarket has not commented on this story. An employee said: "It was crazy. It seemed like it was the first day of sales. People just rushed in, shoving everyone and breaking things." He added: "It was like a riot. We nearly called the police." A tweeter explained how important Nutella is in France. She said: "French people eat it by the spoonful. I had it on toast for breakfast as a child."