Ark, 2025-11-04
The story behind Matpriskollen (The Food Price Check)
Matpriskollen makes it easy to shop smart. In the free app, you can compare prices in your stores, monitor weekly offers, and build a list that actually lowers your bill. Behind the scenes, the team collects millions of price data points every day – with 3,200 stores across Sweden and 120,000+ unique users per month, Ulf and the team have become the grocery trade’s own price radar. We meet them at Ark.
Hi Ulf! What is Matpriskollen?
We are a small, fun company that geeks out on collecting 200,00 offers every week and 4 million prices every day. Prices and promotions are displayed in our consumer app with over 120,000 unique users every month. Then we package the data, and chains, producers, and even the Riksbank buy our SaaS services – and that’s how we get money to develop the free service.
How did it start – what was the spark behind the idea?
– I received a call from a former colleague who is a happy retiree. He wanted to avoid unnecessary paper advertising by putting up a ‘No thanks to advertising’ sign on the mailbox – but couldn’t because his wife was afraid of missing a good food offer. Before we hung up, he said: “We need to digitize the Grocery Trade”. This was in 2010, and since then, I have dedicated all my time to this.
Which features do your power users use the most?
– In the consumer app, monitoring is most popular, while 10,000s of offers are added to the shopping list. My favorite is the price check function.
Which category has surprised you the most this year in terms of price movements – and why?
– Well, neither coffee nor chocolate prices surprise me, as the raw materials have increased so extremely. Beef prices have started to rise, and the reason is a shortage of animals. Here, I think chains and producers need to start working more together, because the problems now go all the way back to the drought in 2018.
What’s happening in the food price world right now?
– A lot of focus on the VAT reduction and how it will be ensured that it fully impacts in April and that prices have not been secretly raised before then.
If you could only give one “right now” hack to save the most on food – what is it?
– Check the price difference between different stores. Especially in Stockholm, it differs a lot. Don’t buy pre-cooked spaghetti for 130 kronor per kilo, buy with your head! If you want and can afford it, it’s good to buy quality food.
Eco vs price: How do you see the gap?
– The price difference varies and can differ by 50%. But e.g., for oatmeal, it means that Änglamark eco costs about 95 öre per portion of oatmeal porridge, and cheap Coop oatmeal costs about 60 öre. A large percentage difference, but small change.
What do you think will be the next big behavioral shift in how Swedes buy food?
– I think that ready-made food will continue to take shares. Very many people who have jobs have received much more money in the past year, and that will continue. Then convenience becomes more and more important, so I believe in ready-made food!
You’re based at Ark – how and when did you end up here, and what is A house for you?
– We needed a room for our employees in Stockholm and looked around and got a recommendation from Bi Cakste, an old friend of mine, who has a place at A house. For us, it is a cool environment with lots of energy, it feels a bit like a train station at rush hour when you come in. But most importantly, everything works practically, from meeting rooms to coffee. A house employees are really good and incredibly helpful!
Where does the team prefer to eat lunch around Ark – and which dish is “most value for money” right now?
– We probably eat the most Gooh dishes that we buy in the lobby! It’s good value for money. Otherwise, we like MR Cake.
What’s the talk of the office right now?
– It’s probably old clips with Percy Nilegård that always brighten up the day!
What can other members talk to you about?
– Of course, prices and everything related to the grocery trade, and we are also interested in technology. Especially my employees! They also run some full and half marathons, and we also like golf and basketball.
