The price increase for cigarettes has really no effect yet, says the Danish Cancer Society.
Would you rather pay old and low price or new and high price for the same package of smokers?
It is in fact a choice that many smokers still have the opportunity to make, even though the tax on cigarettes from April 1 this year was raised significantly.
Four months later, many supermarkets and kiosks still have a stock of cigarettes at the original price.
On 29 July, DR Nyheder visited 30 shops with tobacco sales in Aarhus and the surrounding area to ask if they could still handle a pack of Prince Light – one of the Danes’ absolute favorite cigarettes – at an old price. It is 46.50 kroner.
16 of the stores knew this well.
14 clerks, on the other hand, had to stretch their arms and say that the package cost them 61 kroner.
And if you as a smoker can not find a physical store with the right price on the favorite brand, the solution is no further than a few clicks away on the web.
Here, on July 29, consumers could still choose between 37 different cigarette varieties at the original price on Rema 1000’s website. And on Coop’s website, the number was 14.
The message from the Danish Cancer Society is clear: It is a big problem that consumers can just wander into another store or online and save money if their favorite cigarette retailer has raised the price.
– In reality, this means that four months after the tax increase should have come into force, it has not had any significance yet, says Niels Them Kjær, project manager for tobacco prevention at the Danish Cancer Society.
