“Sweden has a poverty problem”: the social shops offer food at rock-bottom prices | Sweden
Ptoasty and prosperous Sweden, with its famously generous welfare system and abundance of green energy, should – in theory – be better equipped than most European countries to take a hit from the continent’s cost-of-living crisis.
In terms of GDP per capita, it is the EU’s fifth richest member state. Natural gas accounts for just 2% of its energy, insulating it from the worst economic ravages of Russia’s war on Ukraine. Poverty is well below the European average.
But rapidly rising electricity bills and rising food price inflation are taking their toll here as elsewhere. – Sweden also has a poverty problem, says Johan Rindevall. “We might not talk about it a lot, but it’s there — and it’s definitely gotten worse this year.”
Rindevall is well placed to know. The 39-year-old former technology worker drives The food missionor Food Mission, a unique chain of social supermarkets in Sweden that has expanded rapidly since January, more than doubling its customer base as it offers means-tested members the chance to shop for food for less.
Matmissionen’s eight stores – five in Stockholm, of which three opened this year, two in Gothenburg and one in Malmö – sell food donated by producers and retailers that is at risk of being wasted, usually because it has cosmetic blemishes, damaged packaging or a short circuit. best before date.
The organization’s goal is three-fold: to limit food waste, to train new workers – around 70% of the staff attend various labor market programs and 40% move on to find full-time work – and above all to sell food at very low prices to people who need it. Proceeds from the stores also help subsidize a separate food bank operation with some donations distributed to NGOs working with those in the most extreme need, mostly the homeless.
Rindevall says that Matmissionen works according to the principle of staying as close to a familiar shopping experience for its customers as possible. “Our focus groups show that there is a real stigma around food handouts. So we decided to let them buy what they want, albeit at a very steep discount… It’s just more empowering that way,” he says. People want it to be as normal as possible.”
In fact, anyone can shop at Matmissionen – but only registered members, who must book a place to shop, get the lowest prices. Membership is open to those with a monthly income of less than SEK 11,200 (approximately £880) in wages or benefits. Member prices are rock bottom: five kroner (40p) for a loaf of bread, six for a kilo of bananas and 33 for 500g of ground beef.
It is an offer that is increasingly needed. Sweden’s welfare system has been steadily cut in recent years, widening the gap between rich and poor and making more and more people vulnerable to inflation, which has averaged around 8% this fall.
Household incomes have also been affected by electricity bills, which in some cases have doubled. More than 75% of Sweden’s electricity comes from hydropower, nuclear power and wind power, but it has not escaped the global energy prices from the war in Ukraine.
The prices of petrol and food have also skyrocketed. The cost of butter has risen by around 25% this year, meat by 24% and cheese by around 22%, according to consumer price comparison sites.
In practice, says Rindevall, 90-95% of purchases are made by members, who can buy up to 300 kroner of food a week at the membership price – never more than 30% of the price in a discount store – and as much as they want on top of a higher price. Few members go hungry, but many cannot afford a balanced diet: lots of carbohydrates, little protein, few vegetables.
He says the Food Mission’s membership climbed from 7,200 in January to over 14,700 at the end of October. The largest group of new arrivals, around 40%, are families with children, both single parents and couples. “Inflation at these rates means we’re seeing many, many more people than ever before. Some have started coming in saying they don’t qualify for membership, but they can’t afford to buy the food they need elsewhere,” he says .
According to Statistics Sweden, around 7% of the population during the country’s last major period of inflation in the early 1990s was in relative poverty – defined as living on 60% of less than the median income. This year, that share is estimated to be over 14%.
Matmissionen is drawing up expansion plans for new stores across the country. Agreements were recently reached with both the Swedish Food Traders’ Association and the National Association of Food Producers and Distributors, which guarantees support from almost the entire food sector.
– Sweden may still have a good safety net, but it may not be reactive enough for sudden, large living expenses, says Rindevall.
“The only positive thing in all of this is that now so many people are talking about unaffordable food prices that there is no longer the same stigma of not being able to afford to feed your family. It is no longer a taboo.”