Bargain alarm in the supermarket! The Austrians are increasingly becoming a discount on food – like never before. According to the current Rollama study, almost a third of all foods were purchased in 2024. Animal products such as butter, meat and poultry in particular were often reduced.
Trades not only checks the discounts with actions on certain products. Customers themselves now also decide more often what they buy in a discount thanks for the self-adhesive 25 percent rabatt-tickers, which Billa and Spar are constantly offering.
“About a third of all fresh products in the food trade are purchased in action,” says AMA Marketing Managing Director Christina Mutenhal Sipe. But that is a sword with a double edge. Because consumers “recognize the price immediately, but you forget the value of the food – the daily performance of our farmers.” There is a risk that the Austrians buy far too many foods in action that they do not eat and then throw it away. That is why menthaler-sipek wants to ‘point out food waste’. Those who consciously only buy what they use can also save a lot.
Half of the butter “in action”
In fact, the share of the promotion has been exploded: in the case of butter, almost 50 percent of the costs for discount products are eliminated. It is 45.5 percent for meat and poultry, with sausage and ham with 34.7 percent (see graphic). The reason is that consumers would like to use the discount fields for products with a higher priced products such as meat and sausage. But the share of the action is now also considerable for fruit and vegetables and is, for example, 30.1 percent with fresh fruit.
In general, the Austrians again attach more importance to freshness: in 2024 the quantities of purchased food rose by 2.1 percent and expenses even 3.4 percent to 9.8 billion euros. Fresh goods such as fruit, vegetables and dairy products are booming while it is ready to stagnate. “It turns out that the importance of food increases in uncertain times,” says Musshal-Sipek. Interesting: Despite the hype about herbal alternatives, the ratio between animal and herbal products remains stable. Almost 40 percent of the costs are for vegetable food.
Stabilize prices – but not everywhere
According to the extreme price fluctuations in previous years, food prices were largely stabilized in 2024. On average, prices only increased by 1.3 percent. Some products such as eggs, yogurt and fresh vegetables became more expensive because the demand rose. Organic products are also increasing in popularity, especially in cheaper categories such as milk. Organic meat, however, remains a luxury with an extra cost of 81.6 percent of the conventional meat.
Meat market: pig and beef dominate
Pork and beef remain the undisputed leader in the meat and the sausage board. Chicken meat wins in importance, but 80 percent of the purchased meat stems from pigs and beef – also because fascinated and sausage products mainly contain pork.
In the vegetables, paprika increased the most in 2024 with a quantity plus of 14 percent, followed by mushrooms (+9 percent). Nevertheless, the ParadeiSer remains the most purchased vegetables.
Black Bread and Crews: The Bread Classics Win
In the case of bread, black bread remains with 32 percent of the favorite, closely followed by roasted bread (27 percent). And there is no competition in the roles: they form 38 percent of the total small cookies.
A tree in alternatives for vegetable milk is made of regional grain: the share of grain as the basis rose from 23 to 55 percent. Musshaler-Sipek: “This opens new opportunities for regional agriculture.”
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.
