The prices in the supermarket have risen steadily so far. Many households have been annoyed by the rising prices for more than a year. But now that finally seems to be changing. Supermarkets and discounters are lowering prices in droves.
Are discounters and supermarkets heralding the price turnaround? At Lidl, Kaufland, Aldi Süd and Aldi Nord, prices have been falling since this week – at least for many types of cheese. Kaufland announced on Monday on its website that it would “permanently” reduce the prices for many types of cheese.
Cheese products from the K-Classic private label are affected by the price offensive. The discounter giant Lidl followed suit almost at the same time and reduced the prices for ten cheese products by 20 percent. Both retailers belong to the multi-billion dollar Schwarz Group.
Aldi Süd and Aldi Nord reacted to the price reductions of their competitors – both companies went one better. They reduced almost the entire cheese shelf. Many organic products are now also cheaper in the Käsefach. Competitor Norma followed the example and also made cutbacks, reducing cheese products by 20 percent.
Rewe and Edeka also followed suit with price reductions for their own brands “Gut und Billig” (Edeka) and “Ja” (Rewe) in the cheese counter.
Consumers can also save on butter. All dealers pass on advantages directly to their customers! For the third time this year, groceries from the refrigerated section have been reduced. First, Aldi Süd and Aldi Nord lowered their prices. Norma, Lidl, Rewe and Edeka followed shortly afterwards.
Is a price reversal in the supermarket to be expected?
Unlikely.
The price radar from FOCUS online has found a number of price reductions in the past few weeks. Aldi Süd and Aldi Nord have reduced the prices for grilled meat and grilled cheese. Weeks ago, the prices for coffee beans in the supermarket had also been reduced.
Rewe and Edeka also lowered some of the cheaper own-brand prices for frozen herbs and cleaning products. Overall, the situation remains dynamic and tense. The background to this is the continued rise in raw material, transport, energy, production and personnel costs. Accordingly, a large number of manufacturers had demanded price increases during the condition negotiations.
“Companies have already passed on a large part of their increased costs to customers, while demand has decreased at the same time,” reports Ifo economics chief Timo Wollmershäuser. According to economists, people in Germany cannot hope for a thorough easing of prices.
Leading economic research institutes, for example, expect an inflation rate of 6.0 percent on average for the year. In 2022, consumer prices had increased by 6.9 percent.
So why are cheese prices falling?
The Dairy Industry Association (MIV) had already signaled falling prices for milk, butter and cheese in supermarkets at the beginning of the year. The record purchase prices that the farmers receive for their deliveries to the dairies could not last long at 60 cents per kilogram.
On the one hand, the farmers delivered more milk, on the other hand, demand fell because of the high prices. “That will have consequences for raw milk prices, no question about it,” said Peter Stahl, chairman of the MIV. “The prices will go down in the course of the year 23”, was his assessment at the time.
What consumers pay for milk, butter, cheese and other dairy products at retail depends not only on producer prices, but also on supermarket chain pricing and other factors. However, the ups and downs in producer prices are usually also reflected in the selling prices of the supermarkets.
This article first appeared on FOCUS online.
