– It goes without saying that there is something wrong here. On certain goods, I mean the massive price increase we see in the shops is difficult to explain, says Agriculture Minister Sandra Borch (Sp) to NTB.
On Thursday, she and the government announced that they are launching a new “margin survey” to see what happens to prices in the various stages up to the consumer.
The background is, among other things, figures that show that several goods increase in price to consumers more than the price increase the shops have when they have to buy the goods.
– We expect, and we actually demand from the chains, that they do not take advantage of the current situation to increase prices in stores, says Borch.
Several items increased more in the stores
NTB has extracted statistics from the research institute Nibio and compared the prices in the shops with the purchase prices. On some items, it is clear that the shop price has increased much more than the purchase price.
- Cheese has increased by 10.6 per cent outside the shops, while at the wholesale level the price increased by 6.7 per cent during 2022.
- Milk, yoghurt and cream increased by 9.1 per cent in stores and 6.9 per cent from wholesalers
- Pigs have increased by 21.9 per cent in the shops and 16.8 per cent in the wholesale sector
Today’s business did a similar comparison last September, but the figures above are for the whole of 2022.
Vestre: – We don’t feel safe
It must be said that certain items have increased less in the shops than in purchases. Among other things, eggs, which have increased by 11.4 per cent in the shop and 14.3 per cent in the wholesale section.
The price statistics are also based on slightly different stages in the wholesale sector. For dairy products, it is closest to the price the shops pay.
In any case, the numbers give a clue.
Agriculture and Food Minister Sandra Borch (Sp) and Industry Minister Jan Christian Vestre (Ap) held several meetings with actors in the grocery industry on Thursday about price increases on food products. Photo: Gorm Kallestad/NTB
– After all, we have given it some thought when we see that certain products are increasing significantly more to the consumer
than from the manufacturer. There may be natural explanations for that. But we don’t feel completely sure why it will be like that, says Minister of Industry Jan Christian Vestre (Ap) to NTB.
– Underlines the seriousness
In February, there will be a new price increase for groceries, and then the minister expects that the grocery chains will not raise prices a penny too much.
– They must show social responsibility and not see this as an opportunity to raise prices more than is absolutely necessary. We don’t blame them for it, but it is important for us to address it and emphasize its seriousness, says Vestre.
He points out that the government has taken several measures to curb the rise in food prices, including through solid subsidies in the agricultural settlement to compensate for extraordinary expenses.
– High management salaries
On Thursday, Vestre and Borch welcomed several players in the grocery industry to discuss the situation. After the meeting, the Norgesgruppen explained the increased food prices with record expensive electricity and increased supplier prices.
They also said that the costs result in lower profitability in the grocery industry.
Borch says that she has received slightly different answers about the profitability of the industry at the meetings.
– At the same time, we have seen that the chains have operated with management salaries that cannot be explained, or bonuses that have been paid out that cannot be explained, at least not in the situation we are in now, she says.
