source: https://food.unl.edu/article/cracking-date-code-egg-cartons
Been To Norway recently? Swedes are taking trips across the border to take advantage of Norway’s lower food prices. The traffic used to be in the completely opposite direction. Calls for the government to do something about the price of food in Sweden are increasing. Unfortunately, nothing about this situation is easily solved.
Reasons behind the rollercoaster
Taking a trip to the grocery store has become an emotional rollercoaster – shock, consternation, maybe anger, and resignation. We have to eat, after all. Bloomberg and Eurostat show that food prices in Sweden this January were 20% higher than January last year. Covid, China’s extended lockdown, Russia’s war against Ukraine, inter alia, are all reasons for inflation and higher food prices. Another reason for the food price increase is the strong dollar and the weak krona.
The US economy is, to many, surprisingly strong (low unemployment and a 2.9% GDP increase in 2022). Interest rates are high and will likely rise more. Other countries put their money in US dollars because they can count on getting it back, and more. Sweden has only recently raised interest rates, GDP prospects are the worst in Europe according to the EU, and the earmarks of a housing bubble has global investors looking elsewhere. Simply put, Sweden isn’t attractive right now and the weak krona is a reflection of that.
Greedflation and other complaints
Consumers’ complaints about high food prices have not led to changes. The governor of the Swedish central bank, Erik Thedéen, responded by telling consumers to buy only the cheapest products so they don’t increase inflation. Sweden’s Minister of Finance Elizabeth Svantesson told consumers to look for the cheapest goods at the cheapest stores. Charges of “greedflation” – that food stores were raising prices beyond what was necessary – led the Swedish Competition Authority to investigate. Although they found no evidence of wrong doing at the end of last year, they are now going to look again to make sure. Finally, Left party leader Nooshi Dadgostar has called for setting a price cap on certain basic goods.
Svantesson immediately put the kibosh on Nooshi’s idea, saying that determining prices was not the government’s strong suit. Other countries’ governments, however, have approached the topic somewhat differently.
Other countries
In France, food prices have risen about 14.5% over the last year. The food giant Carrefours recently announced a “very good agreement” with Minister of Economy Bruno La Maire. The understanding is that Carrefours will freeze the current price on 100 basic foods and products like detergent, diapers, yoghurt, eggs, bread and cereal.
Government-imposed price caps on twenty food staples in Hungary have been in place since last fall. Shortages of these items (milk consumption is apparently up 81%) has since forced the Minister of Agriculture to exhort Hungarians to buy only what they need and not to hoard the price-fixed items when they find them.
30% is how much the price of olive oil has risen in Spain. The government is facing internal pressure to lower some food staples’ prices by 14%. That, and/or raise taxes on supermarket chains to finance other inflation measures. The Spanish government has raised the minimum wage 8% this year alone.
The goal
The Swedish government is so far avoiding making any changes that they think might increase inflation. Together with supporting Ukraine and joining Nato, bringing down inflation is the country’s overriding goal. Less than two years ago, the goal was to raise inflation – to go in the opposite direction, in other words. Kind of like the traffic between Norway and Sweden.
