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Based on the same shopping basket in week 38 of 2019, Enhver. Has not rechecked prices this week. Kiwi is the cheapest, while Meny finishes at the bottom and is 94 kroner more expensive than the award winner this week. At the same time, prices have risen considerably over the last year in all chains.
– There is a tremendous price increase, says Tom Ystaas, price manager at Enhver.no to Nettavisen.
The price survey shows that low-price chains perform worse, and Rema has a price increase of up to 19.5 percent on the same products this year compared to last year. Kiwifruit is the second country that has increased the most with a price increase of 18.7 percent, while Extra is just behind with a price increase of 18.5 percent.
Spar is the chain that has risen the least, because prices have risen 12.5 percent. The menu has an increase of 16.1 percent and a note of 17.2 percent.
– inexplicable
Ystaas believes that about 10-15 percent of the increase is unexplained. The food price index increased 3.7% between August 2019 and August 2020, according to statistics from Statistics Norway. This causes Ystaas to question the high price increase that Enhver does not see among the 39 items selected in the shopping cart.
– I’m surprised. Prices rose sharply in February-March this year, and at the same time, chains are trading price cuts for various periods, he says.
Many of the items in the shopping cart have increased in price between 20% and 40%. Among the items that have increased the most, we find Jif bath spray and Jif kitchen spray, Kesam Vanilla, Omo Color, Soy sauce Kikkoman and Taco spice mix 3×25 grams from Old El Paso.
– Take advantage of the situation
Anders Nordstad, who blogs about Norwegian food and agriculture, among other things, is also reacting to the price increase.
– I perceive it as the chains that take advantage of the situation we are in now, where there has been a tremendous demand for a number of goods, to implement a price increase, Nordstad tells Nettavisen.
It highlights a willingness to volunteer for a number of occupational groups in society, including Norwegian health professionals and farmers, during the crown crisis. However, he believes that it does not appear that the grocery chains have been interested in joining.
– It is difficult to have faith in the messages that the chains send that they are constantly cutting prices. When there is mass marketing around this, it hides what they are really doing – raising prices, she says.
– If Enhver’s figures are not correct, it is difficult to see that there is something special other than the deception of the supermarket chains, continues Nordstad.
He believes that people deep down understand it, but when the networks repeat the same message over and over on various channels, people perceive it as a kind of truth that they lower prices.
Defend the price increase
Public relations and communications manager Calle Hägg at Rema 1000 explains the price increase referred to by Enhver.no.
Towards the summer, we noticed a clear rise in prices from suppliers. This was mainly due to crown-related cost increases, both from a weaker crown exchange rate and higher commodity prices, he says.
Hägg says they would rather be without these increases, as their entire business model is to have the lowest possible costs to offer customers the lowest possible price.
– We can promise that as soon as we get lower prices, our customers will get lower prices, he says.
– Artificially low price
Kristine Aakvaag Arvin, Kiwi’s communications manager, believes that Enhver’s price survey is not at all a decision on the general evolution of grocery prices.
– The test is based on a small selection of items, in fact well below one percent of the items we have in store. Some of these items were artificially low priced last year, for example Rugsprø cost NOK 3.30, he says, explaining:
– If you are going to sell individual goods at such great losses over time, you will have to raise the prices of other goods to compensate. We don’t want that.
It also reacts to Nordstad’s proposal that supermarket chains take advantage of the crown situation.
– In fact, it’s the exact opposite. We’ve also had a number of costly price cuts this year and have sold many of our bestsellers cheaper than at the same time last year, he says.
Arvin says that in a demanding situation, they have been concerned with driving up the prices of many important goods, rather than dumping the prices of a few goods. She says that today they have lower and uniform prices on all the items in the store.
– It benefits customers, he says.
The crown affected the rise
It also refers to the consumer price index, as discussed later in the case, where it appears that food prices have risen 3.7 percent in the past 12 months.
– The consumer price index shows the evolution of all food and non-alcoholic beverages, not a limited selection to which Enhver.no refers, he explains.
The main reason for the 3.7 percent increase, Arvin says, is more expensive imported goods, mainly due to a weak exchange rate of the krona.
– Several fruits and vegetables have had a particularly large price increase for us. Fruit and vegetable prices vary depending on, among other things, supply and demand in the market, the season and exchange rates, he says.
The situation of the crown affected the outlook for fruit and vegetable prices both in terms of more expensive shipping and additional hygiene measures by producers and suppliers.
