Sweden tries to talk to producers and traders about rising food prices

Sweden's government said on Thursday it would hold talks with food producers and distributors amid a consumer movement in the northern European country over rising prices.

According to the country's official statistics agency, Sweden's annual food price inflation in February was the highest in two years, at 3.9 percent.

Meanwhile, the independent price tracking website „Matpriskollen“found in January that prices in Swedish grocery stores had risen by 19.1 per cent in two years.

„In light of the rapid price changes in the first months of this year and the rising prices in recent years, the ministers of finance and rural affairs will invite selected actors in the food supply chain for talks,“ the government said in a government statement.

The aim of the talks –„to hear industry's views on the situation and work together to reduce prices for consumers“, it added.

An online campaign is currently gaining traction in Sweden, calling for a boycott of major grocery stores next week.

Anika Morina, one of the campaigners, told the newspaper "Aftonbladet" that she ran out of patience when buying tomato puree on Valentine's Day.

„It has gone up by 50 percent. I saw such boycotts in the Balkans and I felt: „Why don't these things happen in Sweden?“, – she said.

She posted a video calling for a boycott on „TikTok“, which received tens of thousands of views. According to „Aftonbladet“, thousands of people are expected to join the boycott.

In Croatia, consumers frustrated by soaring prices joined two calls for a mass boycott of shops in January, resulting in a drop in daily sales of more than 40 percent.