It was relatively quiet on the food price front during much of 2023 and 2024.
This year, however, prices have increased significantly again. They went up sharply as early as January and in February the curve turned upwards further, according to the Mat Price College.
– What has increased is a lot of chocolate products. In January it was also coffee and juices, all the increases are climate -related, says Ulf Mazur.
Not least, however, it is also the heavyweight dairy products that have increased in price, he continues.
– There is a lack of milk. But it is not really the milk we Swedes are looking for, but butter and cream, ie the fatter products.
– The problem is that there is not enough milk production in Europe. It drives up dairy prices considerably.
“There are imbalances”
According to the survey – which is based on 44,000 products in Swedish grocery stores – the price for food -related products increased by 1.3 percent in February, while the increase for all groceries in total was 1.0 percent.
This is the biggest increase since the beginning of 2023.
For dairy products – including cheese and chilled juices – the increase in February was 3.8 percent and for chocolate as much as 9.2 percent. According to Ulf Mazur, there is reason to believe that prices will increase further in March.
– It feels like there are still some imbalances. There are food chains where prices have increased more than the average, so there is a risk that the others will follow suit, he says.
– But I think the increase will be lower.
Reduces the space
The food price rush comes in a situation where both producers and consumers are already hard -pressed, says Ulf Mazur.
– The food is such a large part of the monthly outlets. But we must probably get used to the fact that the food is pushing away other consumption space, he says.
– You may not be able to buy as many new clothes or go on vacation as much, because the food takes and will continue to take a large part of the monthly budget.
Of the products surveyed, 38 percent increased in price in February compared to January. 54 percent of prices remained unchanged, while 8 percent of the products became cheaper.