During the week, there have been calls for a boycott against the major food retailers. The initiators are protesting against high prices, which they believe are due to a lack of competition.
The largest players in Sweden can be counted on one hand. They accounted for over 98 percent of food sales in 2023.
Compared to the rest of Europe, the concentration of ownership in Sweden stands out. Few countries have a food market dominated by so few players, according to Christian Jörgensen, a doctor in national economics and researcher at the Agrifood economics centre at Lund University.
It is partly due to Sweden's many sparsely populated areas, where larger players have an easier time establishing themselves. And partly because low-price chains, which exist throughout Europe, never really gained a foothold in Sweden, he says.
Affecting the price
Christian Jörgensen believes that the higher food prices cannot be attributed to a single factor, but rather that several external factors can play a role.
It is difficult to determine if any player is taking an unreasonable profit, it is not possible to establish.
But that the dominance of the major players affects the price upwards is, according to him, not an unreasonable assumption.
It is incredibly difficult for smaller players to break into the market. And the fewer players, the higher the risk of lack of competition, which can be price-increasing.
At the same time, he believes that the major players can also affect the price in the opposite direction.
Large parts of Sweden are sparsely populated, characterized by long distances and logistical requirements. There, larger players and wholesalers can make the price lower.
"Can take decades"
Christian Jörgensen is skeptical about whether the ongoing boycott will have any effect on food prices. However, he believes that it can contribute to raising the issue of a more competition-friendly market – even if he himself has difficulty seeing such a development and cites Coop as an example.
Coop has been doing relatively poorly for many years. If it continues in that direction, there is a risk that the market will become even more concentrated.
Christian Jörgensen does not believe that the current dominance will be shaken in the near future.
It moves very slowly. It can take decades for a new player to establish and expand its business.
What can be done to reduce dominance?
Local competition is important. It can be about removing some of the bureaucracy surrounding opening a new store, so that new players can challenge on a local level.
