Price search agreement terminated – Rema and Coop also end collaboration – E24

– We think the industry standard has contributed to strong and healthy price competition, but in the current situation we have still chosen to cancel point five in the industry standard for comparative advertising, says Rema manager Trond Bentestuen, on the point concerning price hunters.

Both Rema and Coop were surprised that Norgesgruppen chose to pull out of the deal and thus exclude competing price hunters from the stores.

According to the chains, the Norwegian Competition Authority has meant that cooperation in which price hunters from the three largest supermarket chains can check each other’s prices in stores 20 hours a week may have been illegal. and, therefore, not for the benefit of the consumer. Norgesgruppen, Rema and Coop do not agree on this.

Coop also confirms to E24 that their price hunters are not checking prices as they normally do on November weekdays.

– So you are also out of the agreement?

– Yes, says Bjørn Takle Friis, Coop’s communications director and continues:

– When one of the players leaves the contract, the rule goes away, he says.

You have requested a meeting with the Norwegian Competition Authority.

Rema has communicated the termination of the agreement to the Norwegian Competition Authority and has requested a meeting with the Authority after the termination of the agreement to provide information on how Rema 1000 will monitor prices in the future.

– Furthermore, we want to discuss with the Norwegian Competition Authority what measures, in addition to the termination of clause five of the industry agreement, can contribute to the closure of the case, says Bentestuen.

It was in the spring of 2018 that the Norwegian Competition Authority raided the supermarket chains Norgesgruppen, Rema and Coop on the basis of what the chains themselves believe was about the collaboration of the price hunters, which has now been ended. without any decision of the authority itself.

The Norwegian Competition Authority is still investigating the case in which it wants to confirm or refute the suspicions of illegal cooperation between the chains in the grocery market.

I’m not sure how to compare prices

To be the cheapest in groceries, the various chains still need to know how much competing products cost, but how this will be done is currently unknown.

Friis in Coop says that everyone still has access to each other’s stores.

– We have no authority to prevent competitors from looking at the prices in our stores.

When asked what Rema should do now to make sure it has the lowest prices, Bentestuen says the following:

– It would be best to get guidance from the Norwegian Competition Authority on what they think is an acceptable practice for price watching. Until we receive guidance, we should look at the prices at our best judgment, and how we properly figure it out, we should find out along the way.

At the same time, the chains say the traditional price hunters are no longer working. Norgesgruppen says they will find “new methods” but will not delve into what is in this.

– Are you convinced that a new method will be better than today’s price hunters?

– Competition will continue to be just as fierce and we will continue to push for price so it will be exciting to see how competitors relate to it, Norgesgruppen communications director Stein Rømmerud said last week.

Food prices are rising

Grocery players have seen a huge increase in sales during the crown crisis. Both the closed borders and the closed taps and infection control restrictions mean that people eat more at home and buy more at the convenience store.

Additionally, grocery prices have increased since the same period in 2019. Statistics Norway’s monthly inflation report this week shows that inflation in Norway increased 1.7% in October compared to last year, where More expensive foods are the main reason for inflation.