ICA Campaigns: How to Maximize Your Savings Every Week (2026)

How ICA's campaigns work#

Quick answer: ICA runs about 200 weekly campaign offers per store (vs Coop ~120, Willys ~150). Campaigns are set per store, not regionally — two ICA Kvantum stores in the same city can run different prices the same week. The weekly cycle is strictly Monday 00:00 through Sunday 23:59. The price structure has three tiers: regular, campaign, and Stammispris (loyalty) — stacked, they can reach 69% off.

ICA is Sweden's largest grocery chain with around 1,280 stores. New campaigns drop every week, but they don't work the way most people assume: they're not regional — they're per store. That means two ICA Kvantum stores in the same city can run completely different campaign prices on the same product in the same week.

The weekly cycle#

ICA's campaign week is strictly Monday through Sunday:

• Monday 00:00 — New campaigns go live in every store, the app updates, and the campaign flyer is published on ica.se/erbjudanden
• Monday–Sunday — The campaign price applies on the shelf, assuming the item is in stock
• Sunday 23:59 — The campaign ends. From Monday morning new prices take over

This means that if you spot a great deal Sunday evening, you have a few hours left to get to the store. If you shop Monday morning, a brand-new campaign week has already started.

The price structure#

ICA has three price tiers on any given product:

1. Regular price — The shelf price, applies to everyone
2. Campaign price — This week's offer, applies to everyone
3. Stammis price (bonus coupon) — Personal offer in the app, applies only to you

The biggest savings come when you stack all three — pick a campaign item and use a bonus coupon on it.

Store formats drive how much you can save#

ICA has four store formats, and the prices differ significantly:

The base price index is approximate and built from a typical basket of staple items. On campaign items the gap is 5–15% between Maxi and Nära — smaller than on regular prices, but still meaningful over a month.

The difference between Maxi, Kvantum, Supermarket and Nära#

Quick answer: ICA Maxi runs 10–20% lower base prices than ICA Nära on everyday items (SCB 2026 basket index, n=250 items). On campaign items the gap shrinks to 5–15%. Maxi carries 25,000+ SKUs with the deepest discounts; Nära stocks 3,000–6,000 SKUs with shallower campaigns. If you have a Maxi within a 15-minute drive, routing your weekly shop there saves 500–900 SEK/month on average.

Picking the right store format is the single biggest factor for your grocery budget if you have a choice. Here's what separates them:

When does each store make sense?#

• Maxi / Kvantum: The weekly shop. Lowest base price, broadest campaign range. Drive once a week and load up.
• Supermarket: Mid-week fill-in. Close to home for most people.
• Nära: Emergencies. The milk you forgot, the fruit you need tonight. Shopping all week here is 15–25% more expensive than Maxi.

Reality check: If you have a Maxi or Kvantum within a 15-minute drive, routing your weekly shop there saves on average 500–900 SEK/month compared to only using the closest Nära.

7 strategies to maximize your savings#

Quick answer: Seven strategies that combined cut a family-of-four grocery bill by 1,000–1,500 SEK/month: (1) plan around Sunday night's campaign flyer, (2) stack campaign + bonus coupon + Stammispris for up to 69% off, (3) freeze campaign protein in portion bags, (4) pick ICA Basic where you can (20–35% cheaper), (5) activate every coupon in the app before checkout, (6) aim for bonus checks at the 2,500 SEK threshold, (7) build dinners around the week's campaign protein.

Here are the seven strategies that, combined, can cut a family-of-four grocery bill by 1,000–1,500 SEK/month.

1. Check the campaigns Sunday night — plan before you shop#

ICA drops the upcoming week's campaigns in the app Monday morning. But you can often see next week's flyer Sunday evening (22:00–23:00). Plan your dinners around the campaigns, not the other way around. This is by far the biggest source of savings.

2. Stack campaign + bonus coupon + Stammis loyalty#

• Campaign price applies to everyone (e.g. 50% off chicken breast)
• Bonus coupon (personal, in the app) knocks off extra (e.g. 20 SEK off chicken)
• Stammis price (loyalty member) can take off another 5–15 SEK

Example: Chicken breast at 159 SEK/kg → campaign 79 SEK/kg → bonus –20 SEK → Stammis –10 SEK = 49 SEK/kg. That's a 69% discount.

3. Buy campaign protein in bulk and freeze#

When chicken breast drops to 69–89 SEK/kg, buy 2–3 kg and split it into portion bags (150 g each) before freezing. Over a year you can save 800–1,200 SEK on chicken alone.

4. Choose ICA Basic and ICA Selection where they work#

ICA's private labels are 20–35% cheaper than name brands, and ICA Basic matches mid-tier quality. Use them on staples (flour, pasta, canned goods, cleaning products) where you won't notice the difference.

5. Activate ALL bonus coupons in the app before you shop#

Bonus coupons must be tapped "Activate" in the ICA app before you check out — otherwise they don't apply. Many people miss this. Spend two minutes on the coupon page just before checkout.

6. Aim for bonus checks — not point-by-point#

ICA pays a bonus percentage on every purchase. When you hit 2,500 SEK in purchases, you get a 25 SEK bonus check. This stacks on top of everything else. Tip: route all household shopping (including non-food like toilet paper, detergent, flowers) through ICA if the price is comparable, to earn bonus checks faster.

7. Plan dinners around the campaign protein#

This is the crown jewel of campaign optimization. Instead of deciding "tonight it's salmon" — check which protein is on sale that week and build dinners around it. If chicken is 50% off, it becomes chicken stew Monday, chicken salad Wednesday, chicken soup Thursday. Each recipe drops 10–20 SEK per serving.

Bonus coupons + campaigns = double savings#

Bonus coupons are ICA's personal offers based on your purchase history. They show up in the ICA app under "Erbjudanden → Mina erbjudanden" (My offers). Key rules:

• Must be activated BEFORE checkout. Tap "Activate" on every coupon you want to use.
• Stack on the campaign price. The coupon is applied on top of any campaign price, not the regular price.
• Many are "buy X for Y SEK" type. Example: "Buy 2 pork shoulder for 80 SEK" (regular 140 SEK).
• Some are percentage discounts. Example: "30% off all dairy for 2 days".
• Expiry varies. Typically 7–21 days.

Example: How to reach 70% off#

This isn't an exception. In the right week you can pull this off multiple times per shop.

When in the week should you shop?#

Quick answer: Monday 07–09 for the best access to fresh campaign proteins (full shelves). Tuesday–Wednesday for the calmest store with identical campaign prices. Thursday afternoon is the sweet spot — perishables get marked down 30–50% ("best before Friday/Saturday"). Avoid Friday 15–18 (queues, empty shelves, sold-out campaigns). Sunday evening can have clearance deals at Maxi/Kvantum but isn't consistent.

Timing is an underrated part of campaign optimization. Here's when to be in the store — and when to avoid it.

Monday morning — new campaigns, full shelves#

New weekly campaigns activate at midnight. Going early Monday gives you full access to campaign items before other customers have picked them over.

Best for: Campaign proteins (chicken, pork, salmon) that often sell out later in the week.

Tuesday–Wednesday — quietest time in store#

Fewest customers, good availability. Campaign prices are the same all week, so Tuesday–Wednesday is a sweet spot if you don't need to shop Monday.

Thursday afternoon — date-marked food with extra discount#

Thursday is the day ICA stores mark down fresh items with "best before Friday" — meat, fish, deli. These typically get 30–50% off.

Best for: Fresh meat you can cook immediately or freeze.

Friday afternoon — worst time to shop#

Everyone's stocking up for the weekend. Queues, empty shelves, stress. Campaign proteins are often sold out. Avoid if you can.

Sunday evening — clearance and sometimes discounts#

Some stores run Sunday clearance on items about to expire. Not consistent, but worth checking if you're near a Maxi or Kvantum.

Example: 7-day campaign-optimized menu at 850 SEK (family of 4)#

Here's how a week can look if you build dinners around typical campaign items (chicken breast, ground beef, salmon, pork shoulder, chickpeas). Prices reflect a typical campaign week at an ICA Maxi, with both campaign and bonus coupon active.

That's ~30 SEK per person per day for a family of four — with a solid protein-forward dinner every night. Without campaigns and planning, the same week would land at 1,200–1,400 SEK.

Common mistakes that cost you money#

1. Not activating bonus coupons. Your app has coupons you've forgotten about. Check every week.
2. Shopping at Nära all week. Saves time, loses 500–900 SEK/month. Add one Maxi run per week.
3. Planning dinners before checking the campaigns. You end up paying full price on expensive proteins.
4. Skipping ICA Basic. Quality is excellent on staples — you're paying for the box, not the product.
5. Shopping hungry on Friday afternoon. Most impulse buys, worst campaign availability, highest risk of forgetting coupons.
6. Saving coupons "for the right moment". They expire in 7–21 days. Use them now.
7. Ignoring the difference between stores. Same ICA brand — different prices. The app shows each store's own campaigns.

Related reading#

• Cheap filling meals: 20 recipes under 30 SEK/serving — concrete recipes to pair with the campaigns
• Weekly menu for weight loss — how to combine campaign food with a calorie deficit
• Glossary: Meal planning and nutrition — definitions of terms like TDEE, macronutrients, and GI

Let Smaklig fetch the ICA campaigns for you#

Manually chasing campaigns, tallying bonus coupons, and planning the week's dinners takes 1–2 hours every Sunday. Smaklig does it automatically:

• Fetches ICA campaigns for your specific store every Monday morning
• Suggests dinners based on this week's campaign protein — optimized for cost per serving
• Factors in bonus coupons and Stammis loyalty pricing in the cost calculation
• Generates a 7-day menu in 30 seconds that stays on budget, keeps you full, and fits your ICA store

No more flipping through campaign flyers, stacking coupons by hand, or wondering "what can I cook with what's already in the fridge?"

Get started free on Smaklig →

Smaklig is an AI-powered meal planning tool built for the Swedish market. Pick your ICA store, set your goals, and get personalized meals that fit both your wallet and your nutrition needs.