Aldi Süd: These groceries are becoming significantly more expensive - but the detail gives hope

Created: 02/25/2022, 20:55

By: Tobias Becker

For customers there is a risk of a price increase for food, experts are sure.

But there is also a reason for hope.

Is the price shock small?

The year 2022 has already brought some changes to Aldi Süd.

Some are already being implemented, others will be introduced gradually.

The innovations for customers are largely about environmental protection and animal husbandry.

At Aldi, for example, some egg products flew off the shelves * because killing chicks has been banned since this year.

When it comes to dairy products, the discounter giant will attach increasing importance to proper animal husbandry* in the coming years.

And when it comes to meat, the 5D rule* applies.

All of these changes are necessary and are well received by many people, but there are also disadvantages for customers: there is a risk of price increases * – not only at Aldi Süd, but also at Lidl and other supermarkets.

The only question seems to be how high this will be and when it will come.

Or is there also an all-clear?

Groceries at Aldi Süd are becoming more expensive – experts are certain

As the Munich Ifo Institute (Institute for Economic Research) found in a study, the wallets of customers at Aldi Süd, Lidl and Co. will probably howl with pain in the future.

It's going to be expensive, they say.

The reason: According to a survey by the institute, more than two-thirds of all food manufacturers want to increase prices in the future.

That would mean that "consumer prices for food this year will be around seven percent higher than in 2021," as ifo economics chief Timo Wollmershäuser told chip.de.

Other experts are already warning of a price shock, and there is also talk of a food crisis in this context - and globally.

Wollmershäuser according to chip.de: "Consumer prices for food are rising faster than the entire consumer price index, an increase of a little more than four percent."

Aldi Süd: Price increase for groceries - this detail gives hope

However, there is also hope, because Aldi Süd* and the competition, such as Lidl, Rewe or Edeka, could put pressure on each other.

That would at least keep the prices at an acceptable level.

The reason: there are not many in the food retail sector, but there are large suppliers who react to each other.

However, this situation can also backfire from the customer's point of view.

Because it is possible that Aldi and Co. undercut each other in terms of price, but solidarity between supermarkets is also an option.

That would mean that everyone would make the products more expensive at the same time and go hand in hand instead of competing.

Aldi Süd: These are the reasons for the food price increase

The Pforzheim economist Hanno Beck said to Chip: "In the case of competitive behavior, it is possible that you do not raise prices for fear of a loss in sales." However, he also points out that "consensual behavior" is conceivable, in which prices Aldi Süd and Co. are increasing because everyone knows that the competition is also increasing.

So it seems very likely that groceries will become more expensive, but the exact increase is still unclear.

And then there's the matter of margins, i.e. trading margins.

Ultimately, one reason for the impending food price increases is logistics.

It is becoming more expensive to organize and transport food, and at the same time there will be milk money for farmers in the future, which is why butter, for example, will be more expensive.

The following therefore applies to supermarkets: If the margins are good, Aldi Süd and Co. can cope better with these price increases and may not pass them on directly to customers.

(tobi)