Stockholm Will Open Sweden's First Discount Supermarket for the Needy

Sweden may seem like an idyllic paradise of high living standards, but the Scandinavian country suffers from a growing inequality problem, just like the rest of the world. The OECD reports that the country’s top 10 percent of earners now bring in 6.3 times what the bottom 10 percent makes, up from a rate of 4 that held through much of the 1990s. The city’s homeless population has also doubled since 2014, as EU migrants have streamed into the country.

If Stockholm doesn’t have a solution, it seems to have at least come up with a bandage. The capital will open its first ever discount supermarket this fall, the Swedish news site The Local reports. All Swedes receiving income support will be eligible to shop in the store, which will offer food donated by major Swedish retailers like Hemköp and Willys. The food will either be nearing or past its sell-by date (though still safe to eat) or eligible for donation because retailers have changed an item’s branding or packaging.