The fiercest price war on Easter food did not last until Easter this year. Several newspapers mentioned that Solo, grilled sausages and ketchup were dumped in price by Kiwi, Coop and Rema before the weekend. But this week the chains increased shelf prices again. Among other things, the chains have set up the prices of these items, news’s price check shows: Cheese grill from Gilde from NOK 21.70 to NOK 41. Grilled sausages Gilde from NOK 27.90 to NOK 42.90. Lean Vienna sausages Gilde from NOK 32.40 to NOK 59.90. Idun Tomato ketchup from NOK 12.40 to NOK 19.40. Cheeze Doodles from NOK 15.20 to NOK 18.90. Toro waffle mix from NOK 4.50 to NOK 20.90. Solo 1.5 liters from NOK 7.10 to NOK 28.90. Non-stop from NOK 16 to NOK 29.90. Freia M from NOK 18.60 to NOK 29.90 (Rema sells at NOK 29.60). Cream Tine from NOK 19.90 to NOK 21.90. Twist from NOK 39.90 to NOK 64.90. Organic eggs 6-pack from NOK 13.80 to NOK 18.90. Gulost, own brand, from NOK 56.80 to NOK 84.90 per kilo. Peanut Butter Mills NOK 20.90 to NOK 27.90. – Millions loss The grocery chains frequently check prices with each other with the help of price hunters. news’s price check shows that the chains have followed each other in price over the weekend. But a number of items are unchanged in price. This applies to, among other things, frozen leg of lamb, oranges, Freia large milk chocolate bars, Kvikk Lunsj multipacks and Finsbråten Wienerpølse. Communications manager Kristine Aakvag Arvin at Kiwi says the items in the list above were pushed down to “artificially low prices in the last week before Easter”. – Several goods have been pushed down to abnormally low levels and have been sold at “give away prices”. Some prices have now been adjusted back to a more normal, but still low, level, she says. Communications manager Kristine Aakvag Arvin at Kiwi. Photo: Kiwi – After major price cuts last week, the market price has now been adjusted somewhat, for some products, says Category and Purchasing Director Line Aarnes in Rema 1000. Coop believes that news’s price check shows a snapshot, and does not give an accurate picture. – We must remember that we have had a tougher price war than we can remember for a long time, which has benefited our customers. That some products are adjusted after such severe cuts where individual products are sold at a loss is completely natural, says communications manager Harald Kristiansen. – Which chain raised prices first? – I don’t know that, says Kristiansen. – How can Coop not know that when you have price checkers in your competitors’ stores? – We don’t have price hunters in the stores 24/7, and we have new offers and campaigns every single week that the competitors follow. Knowing who set the price of, for example, the Easter egg first, is impossible to answer, says Kristiansen. Rema says nothing about which chain was first, while Arvin in Kiwi says it varies from product to product which chain increased the prices first. Communications manager Harald Kristiansen at Coop. Photo: Espen Solli / Espen Solli – We have registered that all the discount chains have had to adjust prices somewhat, but there have been slightly different items that have been adjusted. Several of the goods in question were sold at artificially low prices and at a loss of millions, says Arvin. – How many millions do you save by doing this just before people buy wholesale? – The vast majority of customers do their Easter shopping the week before Easter, and that is when the price competition for Easter goods is toughest. This year has been harder than ever before. Selling one and a half liters of Solo for NOK 7.10 and waffle mix for NOK 4.50 is not going to last, she says. VG’s shopping list leaked Both Kiwi, Rema and Coop Extra would like to tell customers that their store is the cheapest. One of the most important events is when VG chooses a prize winner in VG Matbørs. Price comparisons are made regularly, also before Easter. When the prices were dumped last week, VG’s shopping list which they use to compare the chains had by mistake been published on Monday. On Thursday, VG wrote a case about the price war and that the shopping list had been out for three hours. – After an overall assessment, we have concluded that there will not be a price exchange based on this shopping list, said news editor Tora Bakke Håndlykken to his own newspaper. – VG are super pros when it comes to price tests, we don’t know if they will come, when they will come or where they will come – but if they do come, Extra will be the cheapest chain. news has asked the low-price chains if the price increase has anything to do with the fact that VG’s Easter food exchange apparently did not materialise. – No, of course it hasn’t, says Arvin in Kiwi. – Should Kiwi be the cheapest for customers or for VG Matbørs? – We must win the customer, she says. Kiwi told VG that they had seen the list, while Coop’s Kristiansen says they did not get it, and denies that the price increase is related. – VG are super pros when it comes to price tests, we don’t know if they will come, when they will come or where they will come, he says. Line Aarnes in Rema says they try to set the lowest prices regardless of VG’s food exchange.
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Lured by a price war – prices turned up when Easter started – news Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country
