Overview
- SPD leaders say they will prioritize grocery costs this year and propose a voluntary 'Deutschlandkorb' of discounted German basic foods offered by retailers.
- Agriculture Minister Alois Rainer of the CSU dismissed the concept the same day, pointing to existing weekly discounts and opposing any mandated basket.
- Consumer advocates, the Greens and the Left call for a state price observatory to track prices, shrinking pack sizes and ingredient downgrades, noting comparable EU models.
- A late‑2025 Monopolkommission report found Aldi, Edeka, Rewe and the Schwarz Group control about 88% of the market, intensifying demands for pricing transparency.
- Surveys show roughly two thirds of people feel supermarket price increases, with food costs up about 35% since 2020, while debates continue over VAT cuts that experts warn may not reach shoppers and over clear labelling of 'Mogelpackungen'.