Every summer, Norwegians are looking for Norwegian strawberries. There is a rift over the sweet berries, and that is pushing up prices. Now Swedish strawberries have also taken the trip to Norwegian store shelves. But on two large advertising posters it is clearly marked “check the price: Norwegian strawberries”. When you look at both the basket and the checkout note, it said something else. Can push out Norwegian production Leader of the Norwegian Farmers’ Association, Bjørn Gimming, believes there are several problems with this picture, which can have consequences for further production. – It’s in borderland. In a way, you have to be honest in your marketing, and I do not perceive that it was an honest and fair marketing. Gimming believes that imports of Swedish strawberries will contribute to weakening Norwegian strawberry production. RESPONDS: Leader of the Norwegian Farmers’ Association Bjørn Gimming reacts to the fact that strawberries are imported in the middle of the Norwegian high season. Photo: Even Bjøringsøy Johnsen / news – If you bring in imports that are cheaper, it will push out Norwegian production. If you continue with this practice, it may be difficult for Norwegian consumers to obtain Norwegian strawberries in the long term. Bama’s communications director, Pia Gulbrandsen, does not recognize Gimming’s statement and believes it is necessary to import to meet customer demand. It has been a too cool spring, which will mean that the Norwegian strawberry season will start later. – It is only natural that the start of a season varies from year to year, there is no argument for importing. Not enough berries to meet demand Reitan Retail’s Head of Communications, Øyvind Breivik, understands that customers may find their marketing misleading. WANTS TO REMOVE: Reitan Retail’s head of communications, Øyvind Breivik, says that Rema 1000 will correct its marketing if the posters show the wrong type of strawberry that is in front. Photo: Bård Gudim / DAM – Can you understand that people experience it as misleading marketing? – Yes, I can well understand that, and that’s not how it should be. If posters in our stores show Norwegian strawberries, while in fact it is Swedish that is in front, it is of course we must correct and address immediately. Bama delivers all the strawberries to Rema 1000. Bama’s communications director, Pia Gulbrandsen, says they vacuum the market for Norwegian strawberries. – Until now, we have had an undercoverage of Norwegian strawberries, but we sell everything we get in and believe the production will pick up in the coming days. – Is it more profitable for you to import Swedish, instead of Norwegian strawberries? – No, it is not. We have so far received between 325 to 380 tonnes of Norwegian strawberries a week. and in the same period we have supplemented with around 57 tonnes of Swedish berries. COLD SPRING: Bama’s communications director, Pia Gulbrandsen, says Bama first and foremost wants to prioritize Norwegian strawberries, rather than imports. Pia Gulbrandsen says that they deliver several hundred tons to the shops. Nevertheless, the volume of Norwegian strawberries has not been enough to fill market demand. – We hope the large volumes come now, so everyone gets Norwegian strawberries, but in periods where we have undercoverage, we supplement with something Swedish so everyone will have the opportunity to eat strawberries this summer. Concerned about short-distance food Department Director Forbrukertilsynet, Bente Øverli writes in an e-mail to news that there should be a correspondence between what is said in the advertisement and what is actually sold. GOOD ROUTINES: Bente Øverli, department director at the Norwegian Consumer Agency, believes that there should be good routines to ensure that advertising and reality match. Photo: Kimm Saatvedt / Forbrukertilsynet – There is always an overall assessment before we can concretely conclude whether something is misleading, so I can not conclude in this specific case. But if one claims that something is “Norwegian” and it turns out that this is not the case, the marketing could be misleading. As many as four out of ten Norwegians feel cheated in grocery stores due to poor origin labeling on food. It shows a survey the Consumer Council did last year. – We see that more and more consumers are interested in short-distance and Norwegian-produced food. There are therefore many who just look for such products, and will react if they have trusted the advertisement and discover that this is not true.
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