Among the participants are, in addition to Finance Minister Elisabeth Svantesson (M) and Rural Affairs Minister Peter Kullgren (KD), representatives from the industry organization Swedish Daily Goods Trade, LRF, Food Companies, Ica, Lidl, Coop, and Axfood.
We hope that it will be a constructive and good dialogue where we create an understanding of the reality we are in, says Karin Brynell and continues:
It's not a Swedish phenomenon, but we have exactly the same inflation in the rest of Europe on food prices.
Swedish Daily Goods Trade has presented proposals to the policy for lower food prices. It is to reduce the employer's fee for young people, reduce costs for supervision and regulation, facilitate the establishment of food stores, and adapt how EU rules are implemented.
"Beyond our control"
Ica Sweden's CEO Erik Lundberg says that they welcome and have requested the dialogue. He understands consumers' concerns about the increased food prices.
We are working hard to both try to counteract the price increases that we can and negotiate with our suppliers, to help our customers. We have also invested from Ica's side, says Lundberg and continues:
But these are changes that are a result of the global situation we are in and the impact of the climate. So many of these increases are also beyond our control.
According to Lars-Erik Lundqvist, agricultural policy expert at LRF, it is important to have conditions in agriculture so that Swedish production can increase.
That means, in turn, that the price to farmers needs to be good and stable in a situation like this, he says and continues:
From our side, we see no opportunities to start lowering prices in our part of the food chain.
"Increased understanding"
Marcus Björling, press secretary at Coop, writes in an email to TT that they hope the meeting can lead to increased understanding of what affects food prices:
"The way from farmer to consumer includes many links and if one link has increased costs, it naturally drives up prices", he writes.
Axfood – owner of Willys, Hemköp, and City Gross – writes via press chief Magnus Törnblom that it is good that several parties are involved in the dialogue:
"In that way, politics and the entire food chain can together find solutions and measures that can at least in Sweden counteract the continued increased food prices that we see the same pattern around in other countries".
