Due to sharply increased costs, Germany’s largest discount chain Aldi increased prices again on Monday, with meat, sausage and butter all be “significantly more expensive,” said Florian Scholbeck, head of communications at Aldi Nord.
According to the chain, the reason behind the higher prices is that Aldi has to pay its suppliers more.
“Since the start of the Ukraine war, there have been jumps in purchase prices that we have never seen before,” Scholbeck said.
This is also due to the fact that animal fodder, fertilizers and energy have become more expensive, which in turn has been felt by livestock farmers as well as the meat processing industry. The chain’s sister company for southern Germany, Aldi Süd, also stated that it would raise prices.
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The price increases will vary depending on the product, but more are expected in the future. Inflation was already well over 7 percent in Germany, a post-reunification high, but the war in Ukraine is expected to lead to further deterioration in the country’s economy.
The ruling left-wing government has expressed worry over “social stability” as Germany’s consumers have to dig deeper into their pockets than before at other discounters and in supermarkets.
Other retailers follow suit
Aldi already increased the prices for around 160 items two weeks ago, and a week later another 20 items became more expensive. Competitors followed suit. Due to the situation on the world markets, “increasing sales prices in the entire industry […] cannot always be avoided.” the Edeka chain announced last week. According to a recently published survey by the Ifo Institute, almost all German food retail companies are planning price increases.
The retail giant Rewe, with its discount subsidiary Penny, has also announced higher sales prices for individual product groups and items.
“We are currently confronted with a large number of rising costs for raw materials, energy and logistics as well as price increases from the food industry and suppliers,” said a spokesman for the Rewe Group, explaining the announced increases. The spokesman did not provide any information as to when and to what extent the increases in the supermarkets and discount markets will be implemented.
The Rewe spokesman emphasized that sales prices would only be raised where there was actually “high cost pressure”.
“We will continue to not accept increased price demands from manufacturers and suppliers that are not justified by increased costs,” he promised. “Because we also see it as our task as a retailer to curb rising prices in the interest of our customers.”
