Cheap butter was once
Rewe boss expects prices to continue to rise sharply
12/29/2022, 5:38 p.m
Shopping in the supermarket will not be cheaper any time soon, if at all: Rewe boss Souque expects prices to rise for all products in the coming year. He already has announced increases worth one billion euros on the table, he says in an interview.
Rewe boss Lionel Souque expects food costs to continue to rise sharply in 2023. The price for a package of branded butter is currently rising to well over three euros, “and I’m afraid that will continue,” says the CEO of the Rewe Group in “Spiegel”. “Unfortunately, the times when you could buy half a pound of butter for 1.50 euros are over.”
According to Souque, in the coming year consumers will see “another five percent price increase across the product range, maybe a little more”. For the first quarter alone, he already has price increases from brand suppliers worth one billion euros on the table.
“We strictly reject them,” emphasizes the Rewe boss. This year he was able to smash around half of the demanded price increases. “That’s also my goal for 2023,” promises Souque. If no agreement can be reached, the only option left in the end is delisting in the event of exaggerated price demands. “We’re going to be strict about that,” he warns.
Profit-hungry food multinationals
According to him, global corporations from the USA in particular want to see more money for their products. Among them are “those who are announcing their investors a profit margin of between 20 and 30 percent. Just as if we didn’t understand English here”.
The Rewe boss accuses some food multinationals of profiting from the crisis. “We’re talking about a handful of global companies. Germany provides them with too little income because food is significantly cheaper here than elsewhere. And they use inflation as an opportunity to compensate.”