Daily goods company sets thieves' alarms on vulnerable items

In several grocery stores, security alarms have been placed on items.

This is confirmed by Christoffer Roslyng Green, press consultant for the grocery conglomerate Salling Group, to B.T.

Salling Group owns among other things Netto, Bilka, and Føtex.

For example, security alarms have been placed on Marabou chocolates in a Føtex in Copenhagen, writes B.T.

It is up to each store which items they will put security alarms on, says Christoffer Roslyng Green to Ritzau.

- The individual store has something to say about which items are most at risk for them. And it can certainly change from region to region, he says.

However, expensive meat cuts and wine are often hidden or have alarms on them according to the press consultant.

The decision to use security alarms is related to the fact that there is more theft from the stores.

- Theft is a growing problem, and we see an increase in theft among types of people we normally would not suspect of stealing. Therefore, we unfortunately have to put alarms on the most at-risk items, says Christoffer Roslyng Green.

Previously, Salling Group experienced store thefts especially by "larger criminal groups." But now it has become a widespread problem.

- Now it's also the young social group and the elderly, who are out and shopping alone, says Christoffer Roslyng Green.

Since 2021, the number of reported store thefts has increased by 77 percent, shows data from Statistics Denmark.

Last year, there were 27,996 reports of store theft. 70 percent of them were reported by grocery stores.

The trend also appears in a survey among Danish Business Association members. Here, eight out of ten companies have experienced an increase in store thefts in recent years.

Data from Statistics Denmark also shows that the vast majority of cases of store theft end with a verdict.

In 2024, 97 percent of the cases were concluded with a guilty verdict, where the person was found guilty.

Around nine out of ten verdicts were punished with a fine.

/ritzau/

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