This week, a campaign begins that has been widely disseminated on social media, where Swedes are urged to boycott the big food giants as a protest against rising prices.
According to Alexander Norén, the industry should be worried about the bubbling dissatisfaction, which, among other things, caused consumers to trade both less and cheaper, but on the question of whether the boycott itself will have any effects the answer becomes clear.
– Absolutely not. We consumers suffer tremendously from this and I understand that you want to emotionally want to do something, but this will not lead to changed prices.
Continued rising prices
Sweden is one of the more expensive countries in Europe in this context, but inflation in food prices, which in February was 3.9 percent, follows a global trend.
Alexander Norén, among other things, highlights dairy products as an example, whose large price increases are linked to the fact that the number of dairy farmers has decreased due to a previously low profitability.
– So if prices remain at a high level, more people may want to be dairy farmers again and then prices will also go down, but it may only happen in one or two years. That’s probably how it will be, that everything happens with delay, he says.
Differences in profit margins
In a debate that is often about the industry “shoes” on consumers and utilizes the outside world to make money, Alexander Norén points out that you also have to look at the companies’ operating margins, which are generally relatively low and actually been falling in recent years.
– So it provides support to traders who defend themselves in the debate. Then it should be said that there are big differences, a large store in a good location with many customers can still make good money, while other stores are underway.