Aldi drops bread price to 0,99 Swiss francs, starting “bread price war"

ALDI has reduced the price of some of its bread to 0,99 Swiss francs, sparking a debate across supermarkets and bakeries in Switzerland. The move has forced other supermarkets to reduce prices and bakeries are concerned about the consequences.

ALDI reduces price of bread to 0,99 Swiss francs

Bread, a household staple that pairs well with cheese, wine and other Swiss delicacies, made headlines in Switzerland this week. The German supermarket, ALDI, has reduced the price of semi-white and wholemeal bread to 0,99 Swiss rappen/centimes/centesimo. According to a press release by ALDI, this makes their bread the “cheapest 500-gram loaves” in Switzerland. 

The supermarket reduced the price because it wants to ease “the burden on all its customers”. ALDI has been reducing other product prices too, to “protect the wallets of Swiss consumers”.

According to SRF News, the price reduction has triggered a “price war on bread”. In response, other supermarkets in Switzerland have followed suit. Lidl, Denner, Migros and Coop all plan to reduce, or have already reduced, some of their bread prices.

Migros spoke to SRF News to confirm that they will cut the price of 500-gram semi-white bread and rye bread to one Swiss franc, which would be a 17 percent and 13 percent price reduction, respectively. 

Local bakers in Switzerland concerned about bread price reductions

Local bakeries in Switzerland have raised concerns about the price cuts. Speaking to Blick, bakery owner Martin Mayer thinks that selling bread for less than one franc is “absolutely absurd”. Mayer continues: “the giveaway prices of major retailers makes it difficult for the true value of our work to be realised”. 

Another baker from Baar, Silvan Hotz, speculated on how the ALDI bread could be made so cheaply, such as by using machines or cheap ingredients, which could “result in less freshness”, reported Blick. 

The Swiss Association of Master Bakers and Confectioners is also concerned. Speaking to Blick, Deputy Director Claudia Vernocchi commented that baked items, such as bread, “require a considerable amount of expertise” and that local bakers put a lot of time into high-quality produce. 

People in Switzerland are facing price increases in multiple other areas, e.g. health insurance premiums and subscriptions to popular platforms like Netflix, and are saving less. A recent survey conducted by Baloise found that one in two people in Switzerland are unable to put money into savings.