Big price comparison: Organic products are 20 percent more expensive at Coop

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The price differences are huge. A kilo of organic spaghetti costs 5.90 CHF at Coop, 3.40 CHF at Migros, and only 2.70 CHF at Aldi and Lidl. Coop’s cheapest organic spaghetti costs twice as much as Aldi and Lidl. And it is 74 percent more expensive than Migros. This is illustrated by the observer’s price comparison, which records the cheapest price per product category (see tables).

The spaghetti example is not an isolated case. The price of imported organic cucumbers is one-third more expensive at Migros and Coop than at Aldi and Lidl discount stores. Swiss organic apples cost 13 percent more at major distributors than at discount stores, even if they come from the same fruit growers. On average, organic food at the Coop is 20 per cent more expensive than at the cheapest supplier, Lidl. Prices of butter, whole milk with tomato paste, 3.5% natural yoghurt, Swiss free-range egg, Swiss apple, spaghetti, pelati, cucumber, banana and orange juice were compared.

At Aldi, organic cucumbers and non-organic cucumbers are even sold for the same price. Both cost 99 cents. So organic zero percent is more expensive. How does it work? Aldi says organic cucumbers are slightly smaller than conventional cucumbers, so it’s possible.

In any case, what is striking is that there is apparently a fierce price war for non-organic foods. There are price differences, but they are smaller than for organic food. Overall, the price of a shopping cart containing ten non-organic foods is about the same at all four retailers.

If you compare the price of an organic cart to the price of a non-organic cart, something surprising becomes apparent: There are huge differences in organic supplement fees. At the Aldi discount store, organic products cost an average of 60 percent more than the same conventional products. However, in Coop this rate is 88 percent higher.

How could it be? Ultimately, all four retailers say they will pass on price reductions to customers, defend attractive prices, and not charge higher margins (in percentage terms) on organic products than on conventional products.

On the one hand, Coop and Migros use the bud logo of the Bio Suisse label. And they have to pay licensing fees for that. This makes goods 2 to 5 percent more expensive, according to a preliminary statement from the price watchdog.

No bud fees for Aldi and Lidl

Aldi and Lidl do not use the Bud logo and therefore do not have to pay any fees. However, sometimes they source their organic products from the same Swiss organic farmers. Aldi created its own label, “Retour aux Resources”, which is stricter than the Bio Suisse label. However, while this label is used only on domestic products, the Bud logo is also used on imported products without adding “Switzerland”.

For products coming from abroad, such as orange juice, the organic requirements of the producers are actually different. Coop also relies on the organic bud label for organic imports. Coop says this is stricter than the minimum standards set by the EU. “So our bud products meet the highest organic standards in terms of cultivation and processing,” Coop writes. Higher prices are therefore due to stricter organic quality standards. Migros does not trust the Bud standard in Alnatura products, and neither do Aldi and Lidl.

Coop: “Products cannot be compared”

Coop explains that price comparisons for imported organic products are therefore difficult. “The products are not comparable,” Coop says of the huge price difference for organic spaghetti. – «Our organic Durum wheat pasta is produced from Gragnano’s high quality Durum wheat and is declared accordingly. Plus, our spaghetti is produced according to Bud’s rules.”

But the question arises as to why Coop doesn’t offer a cheaper organic version of a mass-market product like spaghetti. The organic food that should be incomparable is the cheapest organic spaghetti available at Coop. That’s why the observer took part in the price comparison. Moreover, Coop and Migros are not only more expensive in imported organic food. The price of the five Swiss organic products in the shopping cart (butter, milk, yoghurt, apples, eggs) is also higher.

“Organic doesn’t have to be luxury”

Aldi is pursuing a completely different strategy. “Organic doesn’t have to be luxury,” Aldi writes. And the above mentioned refers to the “Retour aux Resources” label, developed together with the Swiss Research Institute for Organic Agriculture. “Our organic products are not only affordable, but also meet higher requirements than those of our competitors,” says an Aldi spokesperson. When it comes to local produce, Aldi’s own organic brand “Retour aux Resources” currently offers the highest organic standard.

So where is the cheapest place to buy it? The price comparison shows that Lidl is the cheapest out of 20 products. Aldi is following very closely.

Source :Blick