Migros wanted to stop price monitoring

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At the end of January, price watcher Stefan Meierhans (54) published a preliminary statement on organic food prices and margins. The bottom line: organic products must carry an “extra high margin” in this country and therefore become more expensive than in other countries.

The price watcher suspects this is due to the “less competitive environment” in Switzerland. In fact, the report raises the question of whether there is “collective market dominance of Coop and Migros” that would “substantially hinder” effective competition in this country.

The original version remains a secret

These statements have it all. However, in the original version of the report, the price watcher made many other statements that Migros and Coop did not like at all.

Unfortunately, the public will never see this original version. Migros’ lawyers not only delayed the publication of the report for more than a month with legal threats, but they also managed to get the price watcher to make numerous adjustments – that is, attenuation.

Migros feels disgraced

The orange giant wasn’t exactly finicky, as research has shown. Migros lawyers expressed their “disappointment” about the planned report in SonntagsBlick’s letter dated December 9, 2022, which the administration can see in reference to the public information law, and described the price watcher’s work as follows: “highly biased” and Migros’ “without well-founded data” He complained that he would be disgraced.

Migros was particularly offended by the fact that the report only aims to disclose the high margins of Migros and Coop and that comparable full-range suppliers such as Spar and Volg are not mentioned.

Nor did Migros agree with the claim that they have a “de facto duo” with Coop and that discounters Aldi and Lidl are of little importance in Switzerland. According to the cooperative association’s Legal and Compliance department, retail trade data shows that in 2021, three-quarters of Swiss households will also shop at Aldi or Lidl. Competition is exactly that.

alleged illegality

In addition, Migros officials complained that the main reason for the increase in organic prices – the significantly higher producer prices – was “totally neglected” in the report.

Finally, Migros stated in the letter that the price watcher’s documents were classified as “clearly illegal”. The lawyers therefore requested that the publication be waived in its current form.

broadcast has been postponed

A week later, on December 16, 2022, Meierhans announced that he basically wanted to consider “desired adjustments”, but only to avoid legal disputes and be able to publish the results of his investigations “without further delay”.

However, this was a pious wish: Another letter arrived in Bern the same day, and Migros requested at least 53 corrections to it. “This is if you stick with the release of the report contrary to expectations.”

Timely publication of the report was finally no longer possible.

On December 23, shortly before Christmas, Meierhans again contacted Migros and criticized the Law and Compliance Department for going far beyond what was originally intended in their application, namely revealing any trade secrets. “They demand that the price watcher take the perspective of Migros,” said “Monsieur Prix”.

First of all, the price watcher cannot understand this because the report is only a “preliminary investigation” about finding signs of an abusive margin for (organic) products. Evidence requirements are reduced.

Nevertheless, Meierhans states that he has examined the applications in detail and is ready to host Migros “as far as possible”. “More is not possible, otherwise I would no longer be able to adequately fulfill my duty of legal review and information.”

Migros makes new demands

But the people at Limmatplatz in Zurich are still not satisfied. On January 12, 2023, Migros lawyers sounded a little more conciliatory in another letter, but still demanded correction, which is now twelve.

Price tracker and Migros then corresponded five more times – until the report was finally published on January 27, 2023.

How much this has to do with the original version is not clear from the correspondence, as important passages are almost completely obscured. The only thing that is certain is that Migros is mentioned as well as Coop in the preliminary investigation. The cooperative group from Basel accepted “without any problems” the original version of the report it received from the price watcher in December.

Source :Blick