News, Grocery | Nidar's owner won't answer if he stops the hidden price trick

(The newspaper online): Orkla is the food giant behind a wide range of well-known brand names such as Grandiosa, Nidar, Kims, Nogatti, Nora, Omo, Milo and Blenda.

Last year, the general manager settled down with inflation shrinking by deceiving prices. He said it was inappropriate and immoral.

Just days before prices are set in grocery stores, it’s unclear if Orkla has stopped deflation.

strange!

The Consumer Council finds it strange that Orkla can’t say yes or no to the question of whether they’ve stopped the hidden price trick.

– When Orkla couldn’t be any more clear than it is now, I have to say that we in the Consumer Council are becoming a little skeptical. Did they mean what they said last fall, or did they not mean it? As Olaf Kasland says. He is a department manager at the Consumer Council.

Feel free to let us know about deflation and other grocery matters!

Deflation Deflation became the buzzword last year and means that the quantity of an item you buy decreases, while the price goes up or stays the same. The packaging often looks quite the same so it can be hard to tell.

– We consumers are being fooled. It seems to be the same, and when you find out you’ve received less for your money, you feel cheated, says Consumers Council’s Casland.

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Orkla shrunk beams

Last fall, Orkla faced several shrinking elements.

Bamsemums shrink from 250 to 220 grams.
Smørbuk has shrunk from 192 to 150 grams.
The licorice boats shrank from 250 to 200 grams.

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In October, at NRK Dagsrevyen, Nils Selte, Orkla’s chief manager, gave a clear message that deflation was unacceptable.

— That’s not fair and that’s not good and that’s something that we’ll go deeper into and understand and then we’ll adjust if we use the method to increase our margins or increase our profits.

Celty even thinks deflation is immoral.

– I think it’s hidden, and I don’t think it’s morally correct to adjust the rising costs in this way.

This Shopping Cart Shocks Customers: – Never heard of it

Hot topic deflation inflation

Now, deflation has become a hot topic again. February 1 is what is called the price window in the grocery industry. Stores then adjust prices after negotiating with suppliers in the previous months. Now prices are expected to make a real difference. Many of them talked about 10 percent, and even higher for individual items. There is tension over whether players like Orkla and others will use deflationary inflation instead of sharply raising prices.

– We will follow closely and point out all cases that we see of deflation. We know the media will be watching closely, and we’re also getting a lot of letters from consumers who are also tuning in,” says Casland at the Consumer Council.

«I’m not familiar…»

In recent weeks, Nettavisen has been in touch with Orkla with a key question: Has Orkla stopped deflation or not?

We also asked if there are more Orkla products than Bamsemums. Licorice and Smørbukk boats that shrunk in 2022.

– I am not aware of any of our brands becoming smaller during 2022 due to the “deflationary” phenomenon, wrote Communications Director Haakon Majili. He adds that all three candy products have shrunk before 2022.

– Will inflation be reduced on some of the soon to be launched Orkla products?

– I’m not aware of any launches in the February window that could be defined as such.

– Suppose you have products that have shrunk in size in the last year. Has the price of all these things dropped, too?

– There can be many reasons why we make changes to packaging. Whether it’s to meet the growing demand for smaller packaging, or the environmental measures we’re taking to improve packaging with less air and using less plastic. Grocery chains set prices in stores.

– You write that you do not value the shop. But is there a shrinkage from you to Orkla customers which stores? Or is Orkla’s smaller package always going to always lower the price?

– As I explained: I am not aware that any of our brands have become smaller in 2022 due to the phenomenon of “deflation”.

– Why are you writing? «I’m not familiar with»? Don’t you know if Orkla has engaged in deflation or not? And you don’t know for sure whether there will be deflate inflation in February? in wording «I’m not familiar with» There lies a warning that it may have occurred, but you are not aware of it. Since deflation is such an important topic for Orkla, we suppose you want to be clear about this as well?

Orkla is a large company with several thousand production lines spread across many companies. I’ve done research at our organization and I’m not aware that we have any launches in 2022 related to deflation, not planned now in the February window.

Since the Director of Communications could not answer clearly whether Orkla had stopped deflation, we requested an interview with the top manager, Nils Selte. It was Celty who called deflation inappropriate and immoral. We indicated our desire to ask these questions:

Has Celti changed his view on deflation, or does he still think it’s immoral?
How well did Orkla use inflation deflation?
In what way has Orkla worked to prevent deflation?
Why can’t Orkla answer outright whether you have deflationary inflation cases in 2022?
And why not guarantee that deflation will not occur in the future?

First, we were told that Celti could not sit down because he was in Davos. When we then request a telephone interview, we receive the following message from the Director of Communications:

– Niels has no comments on this other than the ones you provided.

Everyone should act ethically

See the Consumer Council for Orkla’s answers. They are frustrated that Orkla cannot give a clear answer as to whether they have stopped deflation.

– When Orkla was very clear and said they were not going to cheat their customers, I expect they should be able to say that deflation is not going to happen, says Consumer Council Managing Director Olaf Kasland.

– There is nothing here. We expect all companies in Norway to operate ethically. Orkla’s chief says you’re operating unethically if you’re working with deflationary inflation. You can not do that. So what kind of reputation builder is Orkla? , says the Kaslandi Consumer Council.

The Consumer Council believes Orkla and others should clearly identify packaging if it is deflated, so that people are not fooled.

– Orkla is dominant in the brands, it’s doing very well, it’s a very big group. They’re pioneers, so if Orkla is joking about it, it’s easier for other players to do the same. Casland says the symbolic impact of Orkla’s sincerity means a lot to the rest of the market.

He was unimpressed by the explanation that it is difficult for Orkla to respond to deflation because they have so many products.

They must have control over their goods. They should control all the content and all the product lines they sell. They have a responsibility for what they sell. If they have no control over deflationary inflation, they control the content of what they sell. It can be harmful in every sense of the word. I assume they have control over everything they sell, of course, says Casland.

There are only days until prices are set at grocery stores. If Orkla or others try to raise prices using deflationary inflation, the Consumer Council promises to take action.

– Now the grocery market is high on the agenda of politicians. It is not difficult for us to be heard by politicians. Everyone’s ears prick, it’s easy to draw attention around this. We know that companies are interested in a good reputation, so they must have a vested interest in reducing deflationary inflation, says consumer council specialist Olaf Kasland.