The National Organization of Pensioners (PRO) has conducted its food price survey since the early 1990s with the intention of comparing food prices between different stores.
In connection with this autumn's investigation, Dagligvarunytt first revealed that Willys had deliberately lowered the prices of goods ahead of the investigation, then TV4's "Kalla fakta" was able to show that several ICA retailers had also manipulated their prices.
Now that the survey is being presented, PRO has been forced to make changes.
"We have seen how it has differentiated a lot from normal prices. There are about 50 stores that we have removed after we saw strange price deviations," says Ola Nilsson, an expert at PRO.
Caviar under the microscope
These were products that had been included in previous years. An example is caviar, where some stores cut prices by just over 50 percent for a period in order to achieve better results.
"What we saw is that it's the supermarkets that are doing this. They're the ones with the muscle; the small ones are busy anyway," says Ola Nilsson.
Magnus Stadig, head of supermarkets at Ica Sweden, writes in a comment to TT:
"It is not surprising that stores adjust their prices based on their local market; each Ica store competes locally and sets prices to provide the best possible offer. But lowering prices and then raising them after the survey is misleading and inappropriate."
At the same time, PRO's investigation has been criticized by the industry for not being fair and the basis has been questioned. Åsa Lindestam said:
"On our side, there are no such concerns at all. Our pensioners go out to a large number of stores and record the prices on the spot, so we don't cheat."
Make adjustments
However, PRO sees reason to make further adjustments for next year, for example changing the timing, moving the survey from its traditional autumn slot.
"We have received so many suggestions on what more we can do. They are so angry," says Lindestam about the member reactions.
Lidl had the lowest average price among the smaller stores. Among the larger stores, Willys was the cheapest, but only by two kronor cheaper than Ica Maxi supermarket. Geographically, Kronoberg County was the lowest, while Stockholm was the most expensive.
Tobias Österberg/TT
Facts: PRO's grocery bag
TT
PRO has conducted the survey since 1991. The survey is conducted by members who record the prices of the food items included in the grocery bag. The contents are adjusted from year to year.
After the inspection, the inspectors ask for a signature from the retailer stating that the prices are correct, a form of quality seal. This year, 57 percent of the stores signed the protocol.
The average price this year was SEK 1,182.77. The survey distinguishes between large and small stores.
In the large stores, the average price was SEK 1,106.58, and in the small stores, SEK 1,205.19.
The cheapest food bag in the survey cost SEK 1,037.74, the most expensive SEK 1,358.60.
