October 2022 digital edition
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Co-ops and<br />
the cost of<br />
living crisis<br />
The United<br />
Nations<br />
Development<br />
Programme<br />
estimates that<br />
an additional<br />
71 million people<br />
could be pushed<br />
into poverty due<br />
to the cost of<br />
living crisis<br />
By Anca Voinea<br />
The United Nations Development Programme<br />
(UNDP) estimates that an additional 71 million<br />
people around the world face being pushed into<br />
poverty. The worst affected countries include<br />
Armenia and Uzbekistan in Central Asia; Burkina<br />
Faso, Ghana, Kenya, Rwanda and Sudan in sub-<br />
Saharan Africa; Haiti in Latin America; and<br />
Pakistan and Sri Lanka in South Asia.<br />
And a May Ipsos poll for the World Economic<br />
Forum found one in four people struggling<br />
financially in 11 developed countries.<br />
Co-ops are stepping up to help cushion the<br />
blow – and they have a number of tools at their<br />
disposal, from staff bonuses to price controls.<br />
In Italy, where inflation has hit 8.4%,<br />
consumer co-op Nova is allocating a €200<br />
(£174) bonus for 5,000 employees. NovaAeg, a<br />
company active in the electricity and gas sector<br />
that is owned by Nova Coop, has extended this<br />
bonus to its employees.<br />
Meanwhile, Norwegian retailer Coop is<br />
introducing a price ceiling on 200 everyday<br />
products for the rest of the year, keeping them at<br />
the current level or lower.<br />
“In a time of strong inflation, consumerowned<br />
Coop has a responsibility to help<br />
maintain Norwegians’ purchasing power,” said<br />
Håvard Jensen, director of the iCoop Norway<br />
chain. “When our suppliers increased our<br />
purchase prices sharply with effect from 1 July,<br />
we withheld parts of the price increase from the<br />
consumer. We are now further contributing to<br />
contain inflation by introducing price caps.”<br />
The measure also applies to discount chains<br />
Extra and Obs!, the supermarket chain Coop<br />
Mega and the convenience stores Coop Prix,<br />
Coop Marked and Matkroken.<br />
“We have used our unique customer insight<br />
to select 200 popular everyday products within,<br />
among other things, fruit and vegetables, fresh<br />
produce, dinner and cold cuts,” added Jensen.<br />
“The list includes both Coop’s own brands and<br />
brands from our suppliers.”<br />
A similar initiative was undertaken by retail<br />
co-op NTUC Fairprice in Singapore, which<br />
provided a special discount on Pasar Fresh Eggs<br />
(30s) in April. Between 25 May and 1 June the<br />
40 | OCTOBER <strong>2022</strong>