Blockade of supers: 'inability to understand farmers properly'

Farmers blocked several distribution centers of supermarket chains last weekend and again today. This morning (Monday) a small delegation was at the door of Jumbo CEO Frits van Eerd. Retail expert Laurens Sloot says he understands the powerlessness of the farmers, but "the government is turning the farmers' back against the wall."

In recent days, distribution centers of Jumbo, Albert Heijn and Lidl in various places in the Netherlands (Raalte, Zwolle, Weert, Woerden, Breda and Heerenveen) have been temporarily blocked by groups of farmers with their tractors. With their protests, they want to force the supermarkets to talk to them about carrying the Farmers Friendly quality mark, whereby the farmers receive a supplement for their products that are sold in the stores.

Van Eerd not only has a solution
A group of about 10 farmers visited Jumbo CEO Frits van Eerd at home on Monday morning. According to Kees Schoenmakers, the spokesman for the farmer's delegation, Van Eerd was even lifted out of bed. After some time of waiting, according to Schoenmakers, the farmers had 'a good conversation' of fifteen minutes with Van Eerd. 

As a result, Van Eerd has indicated that he wants to sit down with industry, the ministry, LTO and supermarkets. He suggested 14 January as the date to sit down together. Van Eerd tells the AD that it all seems simple, but that it is not simple. "It is not the case that everything is suddenly solved here in Heeswijk-Dinther. There are an awful lot of companies and people who are looking into this file," said the CEO. He also says that he understands the situation, "I just don't have the solution."

Apply much stricter requirements
Laurens Sloot, professor of Entrepreneurship and Retail at the University of Groningen, said in a comment Boerenbusiness know that he fully understands the impotence of many farmers. Still, according to Sloot, blocking the distribution centers is not correct. "Farmers operate in a free market economy, just like supermarkets. This has advantages and disadvantages. Supermarkets are allowed to buy where it is favorable, after all, farmers do that themselves with resources that they have to buy themselves," says Sloot.

"The big problem I see myself is that the Dutch government has much stricter requirements for farmers than other governments within the EU. That should not be possible within the internal EU market." According to Sloot, the government is putting the farmers' back against the wall by not ensuring a level playing field at European level. "It is only up to politicians in The Hague to address this," emphasizes the professor.

Emotions are running high
The weekend was therefore dominated by protests in various places in the country. Last Saturday morning, about 70 tractors gathered at the distribution center of the Albert Heijn in Zwolle, where emotions eventually ran high. Zwolle was not the only place where an AH center was blocked, but in the end it did ensure that the AH top was no longer open for talks, where they first indicated that they wanted to. The reason for this, according to the AH, is because the farmers do not keep to the agreements made. They would lift their blocks which then didn't happen.

In addition to the AH summit, Zwolle mayor Peter Snijders is also done with the protests. "I have now reached the point, after two major blockades at this distribution center, that this is no longer possible," Snijders told RTV Oost. According to the mayor, 'a line has been crossed'. He therefore argues for national agreements regarding farmer protests, so that action can be taken unambiguously.

Partly due to the rising corona figures, the mayor finds it irresponsible to allow such protests to continue. Not only because the farmers don't seem to keep their distance, also because people can't go to the supermarket properly since the shelves in many places were empty for some time.

Empty shelves
In several places in the northeast of our country, shelves in Albert Heijns, among others, turned out to be empty because they had not received delivery. This is partly due to the blockade in Zwolle, but also a major blockade that lasted no less than a day at the Jumbo in Raalte, many branches are struggling with empty shelves. Hundreds of angry farmers with at least 200 tractors gathered in Raalte.

The blockades continue today as well. A Jumbo distribution center in Breda is currently being blocked. Last weekend, this location did not escape the protests, as did supply centers of Albert Heijn, Lidl and Jumbo in Heerenveen, Beilen, Zaandam, Raalte, Geldermalsen, Oosterhout, Veghel, Zwolle and a number of more places.

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