The collapse of the Norwegian krone has led to 30 percent more expensive import products in the last month. Last week the products became even 10 percent more expensive in the course of one night, according to Coop. They fear financial loss if they do not increase the prices of fruit and vegetables, among other things.
The price of the Norwegian krone has made a big dive: the crown had weakened for some time, but due to panic in the currency market, the price has now collapsed. This has major consequences for Norwegian companies that import products. For consumers, it most likely means prices going up.
Coop's communications director, Bjørn Takle Friis, says fruit and vegetables account for 10 percent of Coop's sales: “We'll lose if we don't adjust prices, which will be significant, especially on fruits and vegetables. We are now going to find out how to keep prices as low as possible.”
Friis emphasizes that it is still, the most important thing for Coop to prevent contamination in the shops as much as possible and to keep the supermarkets stocked. He also states that the decline of the krone has made import products about 30 percent more expensive: “Tonight (Thursday, March 19th) alone prices rose by 10 percent. This has an immediate effect on fast, fresh products such as fruit and vegetables.”
"Not the time for price increases"
At NorgesGruppen they do not yet look at the prices. According to Korg Søyland, communications director at NorgesGruppen, it is too early to say anything about how the weakened krone affects the prices of imported products. She does emphasize that the prices in the stores must rise if the prices at the suppliers rise. For now, however the focus at NorgesGruppen is elsewhere.
Søyland: “We are now mainly focusing on two things. Firstly, we ensure that the stores are as safe and clean as possible in terms of contamination risk, both for customers and employees. Secondly, we do everything we can to have enough products in the stores. I would like to repeat again: only buy what you need, this is an exceptional situation. I also don't think it's time for price increases. We just need to ensure that people can get what they need.”
Source: e24.no