Popular glaciers are suddenly more expensive – economy



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"Have you noticed the price increase for Rahmglace-Cornets?", The journalist asks several customers to visit this Migros agency. As the freezer is half empty, customers go directly to the large refrigerator and tear ten packages. All Cornet packs from the private label Fun are torn. Whether it's vanilla, strawberry or chocolate, at over 30 degrees Celsius in the shade, Cornets are in demand.

"Nei," "Ish true?" Or "Oh, I did not know," so the answers. Nobody noticed that Migros increased its horns by 22% compared to the previous summer. They now cost 1.95 francs instead of 1.60. Even the store manager of this Migros branch in Bern is surprised. "35 cents more? Yes, it's still a lot, "he told this newspaper.

Migros is not alone. In Denner the brand Pralinato Ice Nestle [19659004] has become 40 cents cheaper at 2.30 francs .The Extreme brand product (also from Nestlé / Frisco) costs 20 cents more to the discounter than last summer.For 2.80 francs the stem, the price It's only slightly lower than the kiosk price of 3.20 francs, which is perceived as the upper limit.A mentioned Denner cashier is stunned by the price increase. "Otherwise we are always the least

Various justifications

The requested retailers, Migros, Coop Denner and the Valora The kiosks belonging to the group confirm that certain prices of ice cream has increased in retail sales .. At Migros, the ice cream product group, consisting of 175 , was 1.5% more expensive than the year before. Denner and Coop do not want to release this issue. It can not be determined, they are justified. But Coop also made the Nestlé Pralinato and Extreme branded products 10 or 15 cents more expensive. For kiosks, surcharges are "maximum 10 cents". According to the ice cream, it would be 3 to 4 percent more than last year.

Assured data would be available from Nielsen researchers. Their activity is to evaluate all food retail prices by categories and suppliers. But Nielsen does not want to divulge their numbers to this newspaper. Give them to paying customers only.

Retailers' responses show that they are not eager to read price increases in the media. On the contrary, they point out that their prices for large packages and those of private brands have not opened. Coop dares to promise that ice cream prices will be lowered as soon as commodity prices fall again. Consumers tend not to believe such assurances. Too often, they have experienced that applied services do not disappear later.

Denner says price increases were imposed

Retailers are also trying to justify their price increases, knowing that information is hard to verify. The surcharges are due to the rising prices of milk and vanilla raw materials (Coop and kiosks); Migros also leads to higher operating costs. And traders like Denner, who buy designer glasses, say the manufacturer has made a massive impact.

It is true that vanilla, which comes mainly from Africa, has become much more expensive. But that would not explain why chocolate or strawberry ice cubes also hit the mark. It is also true that milk and cream are more expensive than last July, as shown in the consumer price index of the Confederation. But the premium of the last twelve months is only 1.3%. There must be other reasons.

"Retailers prefer to increase prices with small steps, which makes them easier to handle," says Thomas Rudolph, a professor of retail at the University of St. Gallen. In addition, customers can hardly remember. "While the price of a large package of a mother with children is more visible, the supplements for individual glasses are rather undetected. . People hardly remember the prices of last year, except that the markup is huge. "

Denner in hand-to-hand combat with Nestlé and Froneri

Consumers are blaming themselves, but at some point, the ice creams are growing in politics." Denner says the increases in prices were imposed. "Individual brand manufacturers increased prices, which we had to pass on to customers, for better or for worse," spokesman Thomas Kaderli said, referring specifically to the Froneri supplier.

Behind this little-known name lies the country's largest ice cream maker based in Rorschach TG, which was founded in 2016 as a joint venture between Nestlé and R & R and holds a 30% market share. Introduced the brands Frisco, Mövenpick and Häagen-Dazs, including Pralinato and Far-Cornets.R & R are the brands Mars, Bounty and Milka.According to Denner, the billionaire company has justified the price surcharges by costs of 39%. ; admini higher publicity and advertising as well as start-up costs.

Rising commodity prices were responsible

The question of whether this is true escapes the control of the outside world. The general manager of Froneri Switzerland, the Finn Jouni Palokangas, rejects the accusation. Retailers would choose their own retail prices. The premium of Froneri over the previous year was about 2.5% over the entire range. He adds in apologize, the increase in raw material prices are responsible.

Denner argues that the surtax on the part of the supplier was much higher for Denner than the average price premium, which Froneri claims. In addition, the motivation of the Nestlé subsidiary with the prices of raw materials is not valid. "We need the same raw materials for our own glasses, but our brands did not work," says Kaderli

In any case, it is surprising that the discounter Denner now sells pralinato stems and cornets extreme at a cost of 5 to 10 cents more. Denner did not like that, says the company spokesman. Something had to happen.

The Market Power of Producers and Their Limits

The fact is that powerful manufacturers control their prices so that there are not too many differences between retailers. Pralinato was perhaps in Denner with 1.90 francs too cheap. Maybe the other traders intervened with Froneri. Maybe Froneri was in danger of bottlenecks if Denner did not sell at a higher price. Or Denner finally realized that CHF 1.90 was simply too cheap, because customers hardly score individual prices.

Expert Rudolph confirms that Froneri is a powerful ice maker and that its branded products have a strong appeal. This gives the producer some bargaining power. Glacen and pralinato are important products for Denner, Coop and the kiosks, which should not be missed in the range. "If you do not have them, customers will run away," says Rudolph.

Migros Increased Its Own Brand Glacen

Traders like Denner rely on Froneri. Each year, negotiations are conducted on prices and quantities, but also on promotions, advertising, freezers and advertising material. As far as actions are concerned, manufacturers tend to control traders because they have to supply larger quantities.

According to Rudolph, the market power of Froneris has its limits because private brands are attractive: "If the price difference becomes too much Customers on cheaper private brands." This was the only way out customers who would pay attention to the money and still wanted to buy Glacen.

This may also explain why Migros has increased its own brand Glacen Fun.As Nestlé brand-name ice creams become more expensive, Migros, in as a market leader, can also increase its prices for its own products, as long as the price differential with Nestlé products remains about the same.

(Tages-Anzeiger)

created: 29.07.2018, 23:29

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