Due to price war
Lay's chips are missing in Belgian supermarkets
The Belgian supermarket chain Colruyt is fighting a price war with PepsiCo. This leaves some shelves empty, including Lay's Chips. It is thought to be a hard blow for the farmer. They ultimately notice the most from price reductions.
A battle between retail and supplier is normally conducted behind closed doors. Now that the battle between Colruyt and PepsiCo is leading to empty shelves, the consumer is also benefiting from this battle. "Competition is increasing the pressure between supermarket and supplier. It is a rare glimpse into the fierce battle," retail specialist Gino van Ossel told the Belgian Nieuwsblad.
New appointments
In the short term, the customer will benefit from the price war, thinks Van Ossel. In the long term, restructuring will follow and the advantage of lower prices will be negated. He calls empty shelves an extreme consequence of the battle between Colruyt and PepsiCo. In addition to chips, other products from the manufacturer are also missing, such as lemonades and Duyvis nuts. The supermarket chain does not want to say much about the problem. According to a spokesperson, everything is going well. In the last months of the year, supermarkets make agreements for next year. Such a dispute is not unusual, according to Van Ossel.
hard battle scene
This year, the negotiations are going to be tough. Delhaize, of the newly formed Ahold Delhaize chain, has entered the battlefield. They looked at which products were cheaper in the Netherlands and which in Belgium. "With this they went to the suppliers to negotiate 1 low price", the retail man knows. "That's how they want to keep prices down. Colruyt has to go along. Lidl and Aldi now also sell Pepsi. That's why there is tension on the margins from all sides."
In the end, both sides give up the wine, which dissolves it. "In the end, someone always pays for the price reduction", Van Ossel knows. "The supplier has to start saving and remediating or they pass on the costs to the weakest link in the chain. That is almost always the farmer who supplies the basic product."
Niels van der Boom
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