After Müller went bankrupt, Blick made the comparison
Health food stores don’t stand a chance in the price war
Inexpensive organic products from wholesalers are said to be at the root of the death of small health food stores. What is it? Blick has randomly examined price differences.
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At Alnatura, an organic muesli costs 5.30 francs for 750 grams.
Healthy, sustainable and fair. These are the three cornerstones of organic products. Despite inflation and a flattening trend, organic is still being bought briskly. It’s no wonder that almost every grocery store sells products with an organic label these days.
The health food store bankruptcy of the Müller chain put the prices in the spotlight. Their boss cited the low prices of the competition as one of the reasons for the decline – especially from the subsidiaries of the major distributors.
Health food store customer desperate: “I don’t know where to find my products yet”(01:53)
Migros sells products under its own organic label as well as through its cooperation partner Alnatura, which offers its products at a total of 734 locations through Migros and its own organic supermarkets. Coop has been selling organic products under its own brand Naturaplan for 25 years. Finally, Aldi also has a range under an organic label. From breakfast muesli to red wine for dinner.
Blick carried out a price analysis between these suppliers and the regional health food chain Bachsermärt for three comparable products. The price examples were all obtained in the city of Zurich.
| Bachsermartamaranth muesli berries | 500g | 10.46 Fr. |
| Migrosfruit muesli organic | 500g | 5.95 Fr. |
| coopNaturaplan organic berry muesli | 500g | 5.40 Fr. |
| Alnaturaberry muesli | 500g | 3.53 Fr. |
| AldiBio Natura muesli fruits and spelt | 500g | 3.29 Fr. |
You pay CHF 10.46 for 500 grams of muesli in the Bachsermärt. The cheapest organic muesli can be found at Aldi. 500 grams cost 3.29 francs. The Aldi muesli comes from Germany. It is made in Lüneburg. But the muesli from Bachsermärt also comes from a court manufacturer in Bremen, Germany.
Migros offers the second most expensive muesli. 500 grams cost 5.95 francs there. This is followed by Coop with 5.40 francs for 500 grams. Surprising: the organic muesli costs the least at Migros partner Alnatura: only 3.53 francs. These three organic muesli are all made in Switzerland. So Alnatura is CHF 6.93 cheaper than Bachsermärt. This underscores the statement of the health food store boss, according to which smaller shops cannot keep up with the low prices of the large retailers.
| Bachsermartmango slices organic | 100 g | 5.20 Fr. |
| Migrosmango slices | 100 g | 3.50 Fr. |
| coop Naturaplan Mango | 100 g | 3.29 Fr. |
| Aldi, yeah organic mango | 100 g | 3.19 Fr. |
| Alnaturamango pieces | 100 g | 3.00 Fr. |
The Bachsermärt health food store is also the most expensive supplier of dried mango slices. Migros again follows in second place, with a product that is already CHF 1.70 cheaper. However, there is only a small price difference of 50 centimes between her and the other three companies for a 100-gram pack.
| BachsermartDemeter whole milk | 1L | 2.50 Fr. |
| Alnatura mountain whole milk | 1L | 2.10 Fr. |
| coopNaturaplan organic whole milk | 1L | 1.95 Fr. |
| MigrosOrganic UHT whole milk | 1L | 1.95 Fr. |
| Aldiorganic whole milk | 1L | 1.89 Fr. |
The milk comes from Swiss cows at all retailers. The cheapest organic milk can be found at Aldi for CHF 1.89 per liter. The Bachsermärt, the most expensive provider, charges 61 centimes more.
Conclusion
The price comparison shows that organic products are actually more expensive in health food stores. Aldi usually offers the cheapest product in this selection. In addition, some of the Alnatura products are cheaper than the Migros organic line. All random samples confirm that the large retailers offer clearly lower prices than the smaller shops.