ICA dominates in the food area by about half of the market. Coop and Axfood account for almost 40 percent, together.
A review from Aftonbladet, which was published in December, shows that the 43 largest ICA stores distributed over 800 million to their owners during the financial year 2023.
For example, the owners of one of the largest ICA stores in Sweden were allowed to share SEK 90 million in 2023. And wages to the CEO and the Board, in the same store, this year increased by 46 percent compared to the year before, according to the last annual report.
At the same time, prices of food have gone up and now many consumers are boycotted in protest. But the industry organization Svensk Grocery Trade believes that the boycott is wrong.
– It is a huge increase in costs that has been due to external factors. There are bad harvests, a weak currency, war in Ukraine, says Karin Brynell, CEO.
“Clearly it sticks in the eyes”
Niklas Zandén at the University of Gothenburg says he does not believe that the price increases consist of a desire for the food giants to shoe themselves on consumers, but that at the same time it seems that consumers have to take the whole, or a large part of the bang.
– It is clear that it sticks in the eyes in terms of dividends, wage differences, profitability at the same time as the common one does not feel the same situation to get money over.
Karin Brynell at Swedish Grocery, believes that profits today are around two percent, compared to four percent and that it is significantly lower than the average in business.
– In order to have a food chain that is viable over time, the companies must be allowed to make a profit. And then I can’t think that neither two nor four percent are particularly high profits, she says.
Then maybe a boycott had not been of
If the traders instead showed that they also got it more barely, perhaps a boycott had not been lost, says Niklas Zandén.
– Now you see this discrepancy where you get it much worse, while the companies and traders may not get that much worse. They may have gotten it partly worse, by reducing a little margins, but they have nevertheless relatively good compared to how many consumers have it. It is clear that it damages confidence, he says.