Jumbo CEO Ton van Veen promised last week: cheaper prices for groceries. In order to fulfill this promise, he appears to be using the most powerful tool at his disposal: keeping the shelves empty. Pringles and Haribo are difficult or impossible to obtain. The same applies to Coca-Cola and beers produced by AB Inbev, such as Hertog Jan and Jupiler, but the boycott has now ended, according to trade magazine Distrifood, a report confirmed by a Jumbo spokesman.

Jumbo is by no means the only supermarket whose shelves have been empty in the past. Especially since the war in Ukraine and subsequent price increases, negotiations between supermarkets and suppliers have become increasingly difficult.

Supermarkets believe that food producers are raising prices more than is actually necessary. “We all have our own brands, and we know what realistic price increases are,” says Michel Müller, owner of the online store Picnic. “We want to understand where the cost increases are coming from. Otherwise, we will not accept it.”

All products are still available at Picnic, and other Dutch supermarkets are currently reporting no empty shelves. But Albert Hine, for example, talks about “powerful conversations.”

According to Müller, it is impossible to predict which products or suppliers there is a risk of new negotiating conflicts. “We used to be able to conclude agreements for 6 months or a year, but nowadays new price agreements can be concluded in a week.”

Another pain point for supermarkets is that they have seen their profit margins decline in recent years. At Jumbo, this margin fell to less than one percent. This also does not help in negotiations, because food producers enjoy much higher profit margins.

However, retail expert Eric Himes defends manufacturers, who have to operate with much lower turnover than supermarkets. “The supermarket only has a pass-through function, but the manufacturer has to produce and invest.”

Hemmes doesn’t understand empty shelves at all. He says: “Certificate of inability.” “Previously, there were chains that did not put baby food of a certain brand on the shelves, under the guise of ‘we want the lowest prices’. But of course the mothers were very upset. Then you pretend that you are doing it for the sake of customers, but you simply do not dare to show it to competitors.” You didn’t get the lowest price.”