“Kiwi’s First Price products more expensive than branded options, reveals Nettavisen investigation”

(The online newspaper): “First Price is Kiwi’s cheapest option” says Kiwi’s website.

When Nettavisen checked prices at Kiwi this week, we found several products where First Price was more expensive than the brand.

In the worst case, First Price was more than 30 percent more expensive than the brand.

And although Kiwi was made aware of the prices, they only choose to change the prices of two out of four items.

See full overview below.

Big price differences

First Price eggs are one of the ten most popular First Price products according to Kiwi, and this despite the fact that Prior’s breakfast eggs are 2.5 per cent cheaper per kilo.

Grated cheese for pizza is also a popular product. But it is not a good choice for the wallet to choose the First Price variant. It is actually seven percent more expensive than Synnøve Finden’s.

The box of First Price mushroom is a beast compared to the bulk mushroom. Here you pay as much as 33 percent more for First Price.

And if you are going to buy cured ham until 17 May and want to think about the price, you should definitely not choose First Price. It is 28.5 percent more expensive than the brand from Grilstad.

– No honest prices

– There are no honest prices in the industry anymore. It seems that the chains no longer use normal calculations where you buy goods for a sum and add a fixed mark-up, says Bent Sofus Tranøy.

He is a professor at Høgskolen i Innlandet and Høyskolen Kristiania. Tranøy was one of the members of the so-called Food Chain Committee in 2011.

– They have created such a complicated system that it becomes rice for their own backs. It makes life more difficult for us and them. Everything is about manipulation and leaving an impression, it seems, says Tranøy.

He believes there can be two explanations for First Price being priced higher than the brand.

– One possibility is that Kiwi has tripped over his own feet and that this is simply a mistake. But you would think they had systems to avoid such mistakes, he says.

– It may be that they deliberately made First Price more expensive than the brand, but it seems a bit naive. Before it was easier to get away, but now the media closely follow the prices, so the chance of being caught is high, says Tranøy.

Kiwi: – We have not increased the prices

After Nettavisen made Kiwi aware of the prices, the chain decided to make changes.

– As regards First Price mushrooms and ham, these were adjusted earlier today, communications advisor Nora Helgesen tells Nettavisen.

But for the cheese and eggs it is different, and there the prices are not adjusted:

– Grated cheese and eggs are examples of goods that have an abnormally low price due to the previous Prislås campaign and great price pressure, says Helgesen.

She also believes strong competition around Easter can play a role.

– Some brands can get artificially low prices due to tough competition. In such cases, the price ratio between such a product and a First Price product can look a bit strange, she says.

– Why can’t you make sure that First Price is the cheapest when you say you are so concerned about checking prices?

– First Price must always be the cheapest option in Kiwi. Every week we check hundreds of items, in addition to the prices we push ourselves. As there can be several hundred price changes in the course of a week, we also have to follow up the price relationship between First Price and other brands.

– Have you increased the prices on First Price to be able to keep the prices down on goods that are more often price-checked in the media?

– No we have not. We push prices every day and must always be the cheapest, says Helgesen.

On these items, First Price is more expensive than the brand:

Nettavisen’s price check revealed that First Price goods were up to 33 per cent more expensive than branded goods. The prices were checked on 8/5.

Mushroom

Cured ham

Grated cheese

Egg