– The worst time of year for a report of this type – E24

The new inspection report comes in the middle of the “fall search”, that is, as supermarket chains negotiate next year’s purchase conditions.

– We do not rule out that some players will use this in negotiations, Stein Rømmerud, Executive Vice President of Communications at Norgesgruppen, tells E24.

Thursday’s audit report concludes that Norgesgruppen has had better purchasing conditions than its competitors for several years.

Neither Coop nor Rema are surprised by the new findings, they told E24.

– It just shows the huge advantage Norgesgruppen has over its competitors, says communications director Bjørn Takle Friis at Coop.

– The worst moment

But Norgesgruppen reacts to the findings that are released at the same time as they are at the beginning of negotiations on next year’s purchase conditions. This may mean that the audit report will also be actively used in the negotiations, says Rømmerud.

– In that sense, the calendar of the Norwegian Competition Authority also affects the outcome of the negotiations, he says.

– Should the audit dismiss the report now?

– It’s probably the worst time of the whole year when you can publish such a report, replies the top of Norgesgruppen.

Last year the presentation of the figures ended with the Rema 1000 freezing negotiations with suppliers.

– We posted as quickly as possible and recently received the latest awards, responds Norwegian Competition Authority grocery project manager Sigurd Birkeland.

– We are concerned about publishing the results in such a way that no provider is identified, he adds.

The audit announces new investigations

The Authority’s new report shows the differences in purchase prices that supermarket chains Norgesgruppen, Coop and Rema received from some of the country’s largest suppliers in 2018 and 2019.

While last year’s report found big differences in purchase prices to Norgesgruppen’s advantage in 2017, the Norwegian Competition Authority now claims that the grocery group also received significantly lower purchase prices from suppliers in 2018 and 2019. .

– In the future, we will investigate the reasons why the differences are large, says Birkeland at the Norwegian Competition Authority at E24, and begs the question:

– Is it really Norgesgruppen’s skills that make them get better buying differences?

Norgesgruppen: – Not unnatural

Norgesgruppen himself suggests that the simple answer is “yes”:

– The Norwegian Competition Authority report shows that negotiations are important to keep food prices low. Without real negotiations, food prices will be higher, says Rømmerud of the Authority’s new findings.

– Do you mean that the report simply shows that they are good distributors?

– The point is that we actually negotiate with suppliers and the goal is to offer consumers the best possible price. If we hadn’t, the prices would have been much higher. That this gives differences in the purchase conditions is not unnatural.

It denies that its purchasing prices have been much better than those of its competitors in the three years, and notes that the purchasing inequalities of eight suppliers have been reduced during the period.

However, the Norwegian Competition Authority report shows that purchasing differences from seven other suppliers have increased. In general, the differences have been “relatively stable over time”, according to the audit.

Rema: will use findings in negotiations

Norgesgruppen believes, however, that the report, in any event, does not serve as a conclusion:

– To get a real picture, you don’t just have to look at a small group of suppliers, but a large number, says Rømmerud.

– Do you say that the investigations of the Norwegian Competition Authority are flawed?

– I have no basis for saying that, but it does not give a complete picture of the differences in purchase prices.

Rema top Trond Bentestuen says he is not moved by the findings, but that today’s presentation confirms his assumptions.

– Of course, we take into account the results in negotiations with suppliers. In our opinion, it is also not in the long-term interests of the providers to provide excessive profits to one player, at the expense of the other two, says Bentestuen.

Coop: unfair conditions

Coop believes that something needs to be done:

– If we had had fair conditions, prices in Norway would have been much lower. We can guarantee that, and you can see it on the sidelines, says Friis.

He says Coop is now noticing with vendors that some of them are trying to level the gap, but not all.

– We note that now that the Fall Hunt is underway, there are at least a few showing signs that they want to level the gap. While others are still in the line they have had.

Norgesgruppen’s Kiwi was Norway’s largest chain for the first time in September, Friis says.