America News Agency

With the help of viral posts on TikTok and Instagram, the campaign became a national conversation and a political flashpoint.

Protesters blame the price hikes on an "oligopoly" formed by supermarkets and large producers prioritizing profits over customers, and a lack of competition between companies. Supermarkets, however, cite a wide range of factors including war, geopolitics, commodity prices, harvests, and climate emergencies.

The Swedish boycott is one of several cost-of-living protests that have recently emerged across Europe. Last month, shoppers in Bulgaria boycotted major retail chains in protest over rising prices, reportedly leading to a nearly 30% drop in revenue. In January, a boycott in Croatia spread to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, and Serbia.

The Swedish protest initiative, during the 12th week of the calendar year, asked consumers to stop shopping at major chains like Lidl, Hemköp, Ica, Coop, and Willys in response to the rising prices.

Social media posts said: “We have nothing to lose, but everything to gain. While food prices soar, food giants and big producers are making billions at our expense.”

One of the boycott's leading figures, Filippa Lind, said discussions about the action are happening everywhere, both in support and against. Lind, a student from Malmö, said she is participating both as someone affected by "irrationally high prices" and as an “act of solidarity” with others.

Calling on the government to take action, Lind said:

“Politicians need to intervene and break up the oligopoly that is causing high prices due to a lack of competition between market companies.”

They now plan to continue the protest with a three-week boycott of Ica, Sweden’s leading supermarket retailer, and dairy producer Arla, which together hold about a third of the market. They say they will add more companies to the boycott list afterwards.