During the pandemic and especially last year, it was difficult to get rid of money and many households kept a tight grip on their wallets.
According to Statistics Sweden, consumption decreased by as much as SEK 109 billion.
But during the same period, we increased food purchases by SEK 4.6 billion.
Many analysts thought that food prices would rise last year.
But this did not happen even if the prices of fruit and vegetables increased for a period.
-There was a great deal of uncertainty that prevailed at the beginning of last year (2020).
Should transports arrive?
Then the krona weakened sharply in March, so there was great concern about what would happen.
But the krona strengthened and has since remained at a stable level.
Other shipping routes were found so the price increases came about, says Fredrik Hermansson, department manager at COOP Sweden.
Expect higher food prices
During the first quarter of 2020, we traded as much food as during the same period the year before.
But the purchase of food accounts for a much smaller part of what we spend our money on.
In the 1950s, we put 35 percent of our consumption on food.
In the 2020s, the figure is about 13 percent.
-Farmers have become more efficient in their production of raw materials.
The food producers are larger-scale and can produce with fewer hours worked and Swedish trade is efficient in its logistics solution, says Carl Eckerdal.
But according to food producers, the price of food will soon increase, partly due to raw materials having increased in price such as wheat, soy, palm oil and corn.