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🇸🇪 Sweden /Economy & Trade

Grilling Swedes drive up meat prices

From Svenska Dagbladet · () Swedish

Translated from Swedish, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Documents & data Context piece
  • The price of beef is expected to rise further in July due to high demand during the grilling season and a persistent shortage of slaughter animals.
  • Overall food prices saw minimal change in July, with a slight decrease in regular prices, but meat remains the only category more expensive year-on-year even after a VAT reduction.
  • Experts predict a potential slight decrease in Swedish beef prices as consumers opt for imported alternatives due to rising costs.

Swedes firing up their grills this summer are facing higher prices for beef, with further increases anticipated in July. This surge is attributed to a combination of strong consumer demand during the peak grilling season and an ongoing shortage of slaughter animals.

The demand has been greater than the supply for a long time. We have raised too few animals in the last six to seven years, and there is still a shortage.

— Ulf MazurExplaining the fundamental reasons behind the rising beef prices in Sweden.

According to Matpriskollen's monthly statistics, overall food prices remained relatively stable in July, even showing a slight decrease of 0.2 percent in regular prices compared to June. However, beef, particularly veal, saw significant price hikes of 1.7 percent and 1.1 percent respectively. This trend makes meat the sole category that is more expensive compared to last year, even after accounting for a value-added tax reduction.

Last year, milk prices were high, and people didn't want to slaughter animals, so that also contributed to driving up prices.

— Ulf MazurAdding another factor that contributed to the shortage of slaughter animals.

Ulf Mazur, CEO of Matpriskollen, explained that the price increase is driven by a domestic shortage of slaughter animals, a problem exacerbated over the past six to seven years. "We have raised too few animals in the last six to seven years, and there is still a shortage," he stated. He also noted that last year's high milk prices discouraged farmers from culling animals, further contributing to the meat shortage.

Now consumers are starting to say no and take the imported meat when the Swedish is becoming a bit too expensive, so they are starting to campaign it harder. This will probably continue and then the regular prices will also go down, is my speculation.

— Ulf MazurPredicting a potential future decrease in Swedish beef prices due to consumer behavior.

Despite the current upward trend, Mazur speculates that Swedish beef prices might see a slight decline. He suggests that consumers are beginning to push back against the high prices, increasingly choosing imported beef when the Swedish option becomes too expensive. This consumer resistance, he believes, will likely lead to increased promotional campaigns for beef and a subsequent drop in regular prices.

The dairy prices have reached the bottom, so we will probably see them start to rise now within a couple of months.

— Ulf MazurCommenting on the expected future trend for dairy prices.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Svenska Dagbladet in Swedish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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