Manifesto (english)
Food is a necessity
In the last couple of years, the food prices across the country have increased in a way that affects us all. According to SCBs report from last year, the food prices had risen with 26% compared to autumn 2021. This hasn’t gone unnoticed by anyone – students’ CSN lasts for less and less, parents’ food shopping eats into their salary leaving other expenses deprioritised, and pensioners’ pension is barely enough to last for the month. According to Matpriskollen, Swedes spend 65 billion more on food compared to only two years ago. For some, this increase in cost leads to not being able to afford healthy or organic products, but for others it’s a choice between which daily meals they can eat. Sveriges Radio talks of several communes where there’s been a large Increase in how much students eat in school because of the economic situation. This is strongly connected to the large number of parents who simply can’t afford to feed their kids enough at home. For some, the food prices lead to tough decisions, like whether to pay food or rent for the month or to skip meals so they’ll have enough to feed their kids. These real-life problems lead to the ability to live a full and worty life getting even harder.
But why is it like this?
While we struggle with everyday finances, large companies like Ica reported a profit increase of 403% during the fourth quarter of 2023 compared to the year before. In Swedish crowns this translates to a profit of 931 million! But why does this happen? Do our food prices rise because of the food giants’ growing profit? The large companies which control the Swedish grocery stores (Ica, Axfood, and Coop) blame the high prices on things they can’t control, mostly the war in Ukraine. Rising diesel prices, changes in supply chains, shortages and speculation about upcoming shortages have also been blamed. However this is a rather distorted simplification, and many debaters point to the fact that Ica, Axfood and Coop control 90% of Swedish grocery stores. Because of this, they have been able to pump up the prices to an unreasonable level while blaming the current world situation. Together they make up an oligopoly, a market where only a few actors dominate. This has been confirmed by the report Konkurrensverket released earlier this year (June 25, 2024) which analyzed the growing price from January 2021 until April 2023. The report stated that the three grocery giants’ oliogopolistic pricing strategies have raised prices by way more than what’s needed to cover their increased costs. This study shows that around 70% of the total price increases happened in the Supply chain and around 30% of the increases happened in the stores themselves. The stores are making huge profits and the consumers are the ones who have to pay.
These types of monopolistic practices cannot be seen as something that benefits us as people or customers, no matter your political ideology. The free market is not free, and these companies are profiting from our hunger.
What do we want?
We need food that doesn’t cost so much that it makes it hard to take care of our other needs. We need affordable food that is both healthy and sustainble. With the oliogopoly these companies have created we can’t just go to another store. We have no choice.
What should we do?
Engage politically! Politics isn’t just some abstract thing that parliamentary politicians discuss, the consequences of their policies can be felt all over society. Therefore we urge you to start talking in your local area. Talk with family, friends, coworkers and motivate eachother! You’ve all noticed the rising prices, but in order to make our demands known we need to talk to eachother. Use your democratic rights to make your voice heard!
Download and destribute our flyer to people you know, and why not in front of your local grocery store!
Sources:
Konkurrensverket (2024). Stigande matpriser – vart tar pengarna vägen?. Rapport 2024:3 https://www.konkurrensverket.se/informationsmaterial/rapportlista/stigande-matpriser–vart-tar-pengarna-vagen/
Sveriges Radio (2023). Eleverna äter mer mat – kommunerna oroliga: ”Går inte ihop”. 31 Maj kl 06.14. https://sverigesradio.se/artikel/kommuner-oroas-over-hogre-matkostnader-gar-inte-ihop