Sweden to hold talks on countering soaring food costs

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Stockholm, Sweden — Sweden’s government said Thursday it will hold talks with food producers and distributers as a consumer movement over soaring costs in the Nordic country gains traction.

Annual food price inflation in Sweden hit its highest rate in two years in February at 3.9 percent, according to the country’s official statistics agency.

Meanwhile, the independent watchdog site Matpriskollen (The Food Price Checker) found in January that prices in Swedish grocery stores had risen by 19.1 percent over two years.

“In view of the rapid price developments in the first months of the year and the rising prices in recent years, the Minister of Finance and Rural Affairs Minister will invite selected actors from the food supply chain for talks,” the government said in a statement.

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The aim of the talks is to “listen to the industry’s assessment of the situation and work together to lower prices for customers,” it added.

The move comes as a viral online campaign calling for a boycott of major grocery stores next week has picked up speed.

One of the campaigners, Annika Morina, told newspaper Aftonbladet that she reached her breaking point buying tomato puree on Valentine’s Day.

“It had gone up 50 percent. I’ve seen these kinds of boycotts in countries in the Balkans and felt: ‘Why don’t things like that happen in Sweden?’,” she said.

She posted a video to TikTok calling for the boycott which has received tens of thousands of views and according to Aftonbladet thousands are expected to join the boycott.

Consumers in Croatia frustrated by soaring prices massively joined two boycott calls in January, sending daily sales down by over 40 percent.