In the future, supermarkets of a certain size will be obliged to pass on certain sales prices to online comparison portals. In the fight against high food prices, Minister of Economic Affairs Martin Kocher (ÖVP) wants to strengthen private platforms for consumers. However, Kocher rejected a government food price calculator.
The draft law should be available in the coming weeks. In principle, the project has been agreed with the green coalition partner, but the details still need to be clarified, Kocher told journalists in Vienna on Friday. The planned law is expected to be submitted to parliament at the end of this year.
“No need” for a state comparison portal
However, there will be no state food price calculator, as recently proposed. In mid-May, Kocher stated that the introduction of a food price calculator for basic foodstuffs in supermarkets and online retail should be implemented “as quickly as possible”. In mid-July, Kocher announced a proposal for this in the autumn. Given the existing private food price calculators, the Minister of Economic Affairs no longer sees a need for an ‘official offer’.
Kocher wants to support this and therefore follows the recommendations of the Federal Competition Authority (BWB). After investigating the operators of heissepreise.io, preismonitor.at, preisrunter.at, supermarket.at and Teuerungsportal.at, competition watchdogs concluded that the platforms could improve transparency in food retailing for consumers.
In Israel, prices fell thanks to comparison calculators
“Price comparison platforms offer consumers a tool to compare prices better and faster,” BWB interim boss Natalie Harsdorf-Borsch said at a joint press conference with Kocher in Vienna. A practical example from Israel shows that such portals have demonstrably reduced prices by an average of 4 to 5 percent.
However, according to the BWB, the improvement in price transparency should only have an effect on the customer side; simpler coordination or adjustment of food retailer prices should be avoided. Price comparison platforms should also not limit themselves to just a few products, but ideally also make shopping baskets comparable and display all price segments, not just discount products.
The data that food retailers must make more easily available in the future should include the EAN barcode, product name, origin, brand and price. Kocher also believes that quality information is essential, so that high-quality products do not have any disadvantages.
The trade association is taking a wait-and-see attitude
The trade association reacted cautiously to the initiative. “For us it is important that a legal obligation is approached with a sense of proportion and that only data that is already available in a uniform format is made accessible. A technical solution must be simple and not impose excessive burdens on retailers,” said director Rainer Will of the trade association in a waiting statement. The Austrian food retailers had complained to the BWB about non-objective comparisons in individual price comparison forms.
AK insists on independent computers
The Vienna Chamber of Labor (AK) welcomed the proposals of Kocher and the BWB. In order to seriously offer their services, private price comparison platforms must meet high standards, according to a press release. The portals must be completely independent of the food trade and subject to certification by the Ministry of Economic Affairs. The food retailer may also increase prices a maximum of once per day and must guarantee the availability of the products. Fundamentally, however, the AK lacks a general concept to combat inflation.
Source: Krone
I’m Ben Stock, a journalist and author at Today Times Live. I specialize in economic news and have been working in the news industry for over five years. My experience spans from local journalism to international business reporting. In my career I’ve had the opportunity to interview some of the world’s leading economists and financial experts, giving me an insight into global trends that is unique among journalists.
