Winter is near and hundreds of grocery shops are on the brink of closure, warns the Confederation of Grocery Stores, the sector’s interest group.

Rising energy prices threaten the survival of around 150 to 200 outlets – close to a seventh of its membership.

Energy conservation in vain
Rising energy prices and inflation are making day-to-day life difficult for grocery shops. Many are pessimistic about the future, despite taking their own measures to solve the problem, from installing lids on fridges to dimming lighting or even turning off lights an hour before closing time.

“That’s not enough”, John Wagner, the chief executive of the Grocers’ Confederation, told TV2.

“In many shops the energy costs exceed what the owner earns each month, depending on how new or old the shop is and its refrigeration and freezer units,”

Lifeblood of the villages
The closure of the grocery stores will particularly hit rural areas, according to Coop’s information director, Jens Juul Nielsen.

“They are the lifeblood of the village: when the last shop in a village closes, the village disappears,” he told TV2.

In July, the country’s inflation rate stood at 9.6 percent – the highest rate since the early 1980s.