Farmers didn’t get what they want

Norwegian farmers’ organizations were disappointed and surprised this week when the left-center government coalition, which includes the country’s most farmer-friendly party, only offered them half of the taxpayer support they’d demanded. They still stand to get average pay raises of around 8.5 percent, though. It remains unclear whether the farmers will respond with the sorts [...]

Finance minister ‘on steady course’

Norway’s left-center government coalition aims to keep the country’s strong economy on what Finance Minister Sigbjørn Johnsen called “a steady course” when he released the government’s revised state budget on Tuesday. Opposition politicians claim he’s spreading Norway’s wealth much too thinly. “Careful economic management is critical to secure good development in the Norwegian economy,” Johnsen [...]

Høyre cultivates farmers’ vote

As prime minister hopeful Erna Solberg gathered her Conservative Party (Høyre) for its national meeting at Gardermoen this weekend, the party seemed to be gaining new support from an unlikely source. Even though Høyre advocates free market, anti-protectionist principles and wants to restructure agricultural monopolies, it’s been attracting surprising numbers of voters from farmers who’ve relied [...]

Farmers demand huge pay hike

Norway’s powerful farmers’ organizations handed over a demand on Friday for nearly NOK 2 billion in increased income this year, mostly in the form of higher prices for meat and more direct support in the state budget. The demand amounts to around NOK 47,000 (USD 8,000) per farmer, much higher than annual pay raises for [...]

Center Party keen to close borders

Norway’s rural-oriented Center Party (Senterpartiet, Sp) shocked even its sister party in Sweden over the weekend when it voted to promote withdrawal from the so-called “Schengen agreement” that has opened borders among various European countries. The party also wants to replace Norway’s economic agreement with the European Union, in addition to securing high tariffs and [...]

Tiny party in the spotlight again

NEWS ANALYSIS: More than 90 percent of Norwegian voters don’t support Liv Signe Navarsete’s small, rural-oriented Center Party (Senterpartiet, Sp), yet its top politicians and their upcoming annual meeting this weekend have been grabbing headlines and topping newscasts. Outsiders can only marvel over how and why the party can command so much attention and power [...]

Poor hygiene at slaughterhouses

More than half of Norwegian slaughterhouses for small animals such as sheep and goats do not meet basic hygiene standards, according to state food safety authority Mattilsynet. Inspectors found that they run the risk of making people ill with meat contaminated with bacteria from animal intestines. Numerous slaughterhouses in Norway were found to risk meat [...]

New grocery deal hikes price fears

Consumer advocates are sounding the alarms over a deal announced Monday between the long-troubled ICA grocery store chain in Norway and Norway’s most powerful grocery retailer, NorgesGruppen. ICA plans to turn over portions of its purchasing and distribution operations to NorgesGruppen, giving the latter even more power to control grocery store products and prices than [...]

Wolf pair marking territory in Oslo

Wildlife researchers had some sensational news for Oslo residents this week: They’re almost certain that a pair of wolves have been marking territory this winter in Oslo’s eastern forest known as Østmarka. A litter of pups may result later this spring. It would be the the first time a pack of wolves has established itself [...]

Namibia meat wards off shortage

One of Norway’s largest retail grocery store chains, NorgesGruppen, is arranging to import meat from Namibia because Norwegian cattle owners can’t supply enough beef. The Norwegian market faces a shortage estimated at around 17,000 tons this year. The looming domestic beef shortage is tied to last year’s infamous butter shortage, which prompted dairy cattle owners [...]

Norway’s food confirmed as most expensive in Europe

Consumers in Norway have known it for years, but now Norwegian food prices have been confirmed once again as the highest in Europe by both European statistics bureau Eurostat and the central statistics agency in Sweden. They’ve reported that food prices in Norway, affected by high costs and protectionist regulations, lie 64 percent above the [...]

Dominant dairy draws more flak

Several grocery store owners claim Norway’s dairy conglomerate Tine, which regulates and controls the national market, still isn’t managing to produce enough butter to meet demand. Meanwhile, Tine’s role as market regulator remains under fire, food prices have been confirmed as the highest in Europe, and now the dairy has even landed in trouble over [...]

Butter supplies remain uncertain

Norway’s embattled dairy monopoly Tine is still struggling to supply enough butter to meet demand, and has asked for more reductions in the country’s protectionist import tariffs to allow more foreign butter into the market. Tine felt a need to request tariff reductions until January 1, making the third time this autumn alone that the [...]

Cross-border shoppers unite

Thousands of Norwegians who regularly travel over the border to shop in Sweden are now banding together through an online organization aimed at getting even better deals from Swedish merchants. The Norwegians may also succeed in getting better prices at home as well. The organization is called Harryklubben, which derives its name from the expression [...]

Minister caught in real food fight

The Norwegian government’s unpopular decision to further raise import tariffs on cheese and meat, to protect Norwegian producers, is setting off more political battles. It also prompted a leading Norwegian restaurant owner  to throw Norway’s government minister for agriculture and food out of the trendy new Mathallen (Food Hall) in Oslo. The major opposition parties [...]

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