Edeka fights against price increases: customers are frustrated!

Edeka fights against price increases: customers are frustrated!

In Germany, consumers are increasingly fighting with increasing food prices. A current analysis shows that the general price level for food has risen by around 30 percent since 2021. This inflation affects almost all food groups and is due to various factors, including increased energy and raw material costs, lack of workers and the effects of climate change. Pandemic, the Ukraine War and the associated customs measures have further exacerbated the situation, which continues to drift inflation. This is reported by the Consumer center NRW .

In the shade of these developments, the food dealer Edeka triggered public excitement by announcing a permanent price reduction for many articles in a Facebook reel. The announcement that "many articles will be permanently reduced in price from today" gives hope that Edeka's price combat strategy can reduce the financial burdens of customers. The lowered articles include products such as good & cheap vanilla ice cream, good & cheap fish sticks and edeka heart white tiger shrimp. For the period until June 7th, 10 times Payback points can also be collected on the entire purchase, which creates additional incentives for customers, such as reported.

The aggressive price strategy from Edeka is in the context of an intensive price war with large food manufacturers such as Henkel, Procter & Gamble, Mars and Pepsi. At least 17 corporations have already stopped delivering to Edeka. This leads to the question of whether the food manufacturers actually demand excessive prices. Experts, including Stephan Rüschen, professor of food trade, describe the situation as "particularly sharp". Edeka and Rewe achieve almost 80 percent of their sales with branded items, whereas discounters are around 30 to 40 percent. Nevertheless, it remains unclear whether Edeka's allegations are justified to the manufacturers or whether they use the high inflation as an excuse to increase prices, so n-tv.de .

perspectives and challenges for consumers

The tense market situation is increasingly difficult for consumers to ensure healthy eating, since more and more needs to be used for cheaper alternatives. The consumer advice centers not only observe the increasing prices, but also hidden price increases, such as by lower filling quantities or changed recipes. The uncertainty through crises such as the Ukraine war and rising energy prices significantly influences the price calculation.

Although experts expect a more moderate increase in prices in the future, the situation remains a major challenge for many consumers. The call for political and antitrust examination regarding potential use of market conditions is getting louder. In this rapidly changing environment, Edeka tries to position himself as a "lawyer of customers" and signal independently retailers that price negotiations have to be guided harder.