There are several aspects of the two packs of smoked salmon presented at the Coop Prix that leave Olav Kasland perplexed.
Kasland is director of trade at the Consumer Council and believes the two packages are an expression of the competition being too unfavourable.
– Competition at the same level, he calls it.
What’s on the back of the package
In several Coop Prix stores, customers can only choose between two types of smoked salmon. They are extremely similar and extremely different at the same time.
If you look at the packages, they clearly differ from each other. And in terms of price, they are at two very different ends of the scale. One costs NOK 205 per kilo. The other has a price per kilo that is more than double.
Plus, there’s actually a little more salmon in the cheap package. In it, 97% of the content is salmon, and the rest is salt and sugar. In the expensive package there is 96% salmon.
But if you turn the package over, you discover something. Both packages state:
Produced for Coop Norge SA by Sotra Fiskeindustri AS, Glesvær.
The difference between the two
Another thing is similar. Coop owns both brands, these are so-called EMV products. One is from the Coop brand and the other from the X-tra brand.
Nettavisen asked Coop what the difference really is between the two pieces of smoked salmon. Coop’s communications director writes to Nettavisen:
“The Coop smoked salmon 100 g has a different and better cut than the Xtra smoked salmon. The Coop salmon has eliminated more back fat than the Xtra salmon and also uses less of the tail. But the process itself, with salting/maturation, drying and smoking, it is the same for both products. And of course the hygiene and food safety requirements are the same, regardless of the platform.”
– Hard to understand
– As consumers, we are often dazzled by brand names and how a package can look a little nicer. But then it turns out that the product is almost exactly the same. Here you obviously can’t catch fish for good fish, says Kasland of the Consumer Council.
Reacts to the price difference. The most expensive package, at NOK 479 per kilo, has a price per kilo 133% higher than the cheapest package.
– I don’t understand why the price difference should be so big. Furthermore, it is not possible to understand the differences based on what Coop itself says, says Kasland.
– What could be the reason why one is much more expensive?
– I don’t trust that they sell the cheapest one at a loss, so here they are really skimming the cream when they sell the expensive one, says Kasland.
The problematic
Kasland also reacts to the fact that customers only have the option to choose between Coop brands.
– The problematic thing is that the chain guarantees full control. Not only do they control the stores, but in this example they both control the two varieties of smoked salmon and there are no outside competitors, Kasland says.
Kasland points out that chains’ own brands can be valuable in other contexts.
– These can provide real competition to dominant manufacturers, such as Orkla. Then it’s positive.
Orkla dominates several categories in stores, such as frozen pizza where it owns both Grandiosa and Big One.
– In the food market there is too little competition both in terms of selection and price. When chains’ own brands completely take over in some categories, competition becomes even worse, Kasland says.
Coop somehow rejects the competition
Coop’s communications director, Harald Kristiansen, responds as follows:
– This is not some kind of competition. We are proud of our unique brands that you can only find in Coop stores, she says.
– Coop’s aim is to offer our customers and members quality products at low prices, says Kristiansen.
According to him, only the two EMV salmon varieties can be chosen in the smaller Coop Prix stores.
– So we can’t use space on products that customers don’t want to buy. It will help increase food waste in the store, she says.
According to Kristiansen, there are eleven varieties of smoked salmon in other Coop chains.
Less salmon in the expensive package
– Do you think the price difference reflects the quality difference?
– There is a certain difference in quality between the Coop and Xtra series, and this must be reflected in the price, as in this case, says Kristiansen.
– Why is the percentage of salmon lower in the expensive package?
– Smoked salmon contains only salmon, salt and sugar. From. three percent salt and approx. 0.5% sugar. The difference is probably due to the fact that the ingredient lists are drawn up separately and that salt and sugar are rounded slightly differently, explains Coop communications director Harald Kristiansen.
2024-01-20 17:58:51
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