On Monday evening, April 20th, the leaders of the Left Party, Nooshi Dadgostar, and the Christian Democrats, Ebba Busch, participated in a televised debate about high food prices. Central to the discussion was the temporary reduction in VAT on food from 12 to 6 percent, implemented during April.
To illustrate her position, Dadgostar broke a carrot on air. She argued that the majority of the revenue goes to the large grocery chains due to a lack of competition, while only a smaller portion goes to farmers and the state in the form of VAT. Ebba Busch objected to the reasoning and defended the retailers' role in Swedish business and the economy.
Industry Organization Rejects Criticism
Swedish Grocery Trade published a press release on Tuesday responding to the Left Party's statement. The organization refers to statistics from both Statistics Sweden (SCB) and Eurostat, which show that Swedish food prices are not increasing more than in the rest of Europe, but rather are below the average.
According to the industry organization, the price development is primarily explained by macroeconomic factors:
- Geopolitical tensions and war.
- High energy and transportation costs.
- Weaker harvests of specific commodities globally.
Swedish Grocery Trade therefore does not understand the accusations that the industry deliberately avoids price competition or divides the market geographically.
Given this background, it is deeply problematic that the leader of the Left Party in the debate gives a directly incorrect picture of the market, that grocery retailers divide the market among themselves, place stores to avoid competition and deliberately refrain from price competition, writes Swedish Grocery Trade in its comment.
The organization further points out that a review by the Swedish Competition Authority does not support Dadgostar's claims of coordinated pricing between the major chains. However, they emphasize that they welcome measures that simplify the establishment of new stores, including additions to the planning and building law.
A Questioned Market Position Ahead of the VAT Reduction
The debate about the pricing and market shares of grocery chains has been a burning issue for the industry for some time. As early as November 2025, when the government presented its "Food Price Commission" to specifically target the retail sector, internal industry criticism was directed at the dominant players.
E-commerce retailer Mathem then announced a guarantee to pass the entire VAT reduction on to customers without reservation. Mathem Sweden CEO Sara Tranarp described the market structure as an oligopoly and warned that large parts of the VAT reduction risked getting stuck with the chains if full transparency did not prevail.
Swedish Grocery Trade is now calling for a more fact-based discussion about food prices.
In a situation where many households are financially strained, it is particularly important that the debate about food prices is based on facts. It benefits neither consumers nor trust in politics to deliberately spread a misleading picture, the organization states.