Peak not reached – The big fear: will food become even more expensive?

One thing is clear: the days of cheap groceries are over. This is now changing the buying behavior of consumers. “Customers are putting less in their shopping carts and buying less often than they used to,” said Wolfgang Benischko, head of the food retail division of the Upper Austrian Chamber of Commerce.

No price driver
But, “The food trade is not the price driver,” says Rewe’s “Krone” (Billa, Bipa, Billa Plus, Penny). Due to the cost increases for raw materials, energy, logistics and price increases in the food industry and suppliers, the sales price of individual product groups had to be increased.

Margin exemption
“However, we ensure that price adjustments are only passed on to customers where there is high cost pressure,” the group emphasizes. Spar also tries to maintain the balance between higher production costs and customer needs on a daily basis: “We also waive part of our margin, offer attractive pricing campaigns.” And Hofer is investigating “all possibilities to absorb extra costs elsewhere – also through our margin”.

No one can say how it will go on. “We hope that there will be an improvement in the autumn,” says Spar boss Jakob Leitner. Only Benischko expresses what everyone – retailers and consumers – fears (see also the interview below): “Price inflation has not yet reached a peak!”

“You can also save on other things”
Farmer direct marketers have similar concerns: “We don’t try to pass on the higher production costs in full to the customer,” said Christian Lang, president of the young farmers in Upper Austria and a farmer. In some cases, it is hardly possible to achieve cost-effectiveness, for example in pig farming. His appeal: “Many consumers could save money on other things, not high-quality food.”