Butter, milk, coffee and eggs are examples of goods that have increased more than 30 percent in price since January 2022.

Finance Minister Elisabeth Svantesson (M) had a meeting with Ica, Axfood and Coop on Tuesday to find solutions to the soaring prices. No concrete news came after the meeting, but according to Ica's newly appointed CEO, prices have already begun to be reduced.

"As wheat prices and dairy prices go down, I think it should turn downwards at the beginning of quarter 2," says Nina Jönsson.

But she does not want to make any promises to Swedish households.

"Several commodities on the way down"

Among other things, the food giants point to supplier costs as the reason for the rising prices. But Coop also believes that price reductions are underway.

"We adjust our prices when we receive adjustments from suppliers. We see several commodities that are on the decline and expect price reductions from suppliers. Our assessment is that we will see reduced prices in certain categories in the future, says Marcus Björling, press secretary at Coop.

Competitor Axfood, which owns Willys and Hemköp, among others, believes that the price increases will stop during the spring thanks to falling energy and raw material prices. But Axfood says it does not "dare" to judge whether it can lead to lower prices.

"There are many factors that come into play," says Press Officer Magnus Törnblom.

"Prices that move sideways"

The trade association Food Producers recently made the assessment that we should expect continued price increases, based on a survey of the industry's 800 companies in January. Now the situation is somewhat brighter, according to chief economist Carl Eckerdal.

He points to falling prices for energy, transport, packaging and grain.

"We will definitely see a lower rate of price increase, hopefully with prices moving sideways to drop back a bit. But then we're beyond summer.

The food chain Lidl says it is lowering the price of over 100 products, such as coffee, milk and meat from some 50 suppliers. The new prices will be on average 11 percent lower than before, Lidl said in a press release.