Unilever has become embroiled in a pricing row with Belgian retailer Delhaize that has seen 250 of the consumer goods giant’s brands delisted.
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The Anglo-Dutch group is looking to push through price increases in Belgium but has so far failed to strike an agreement with Delhaize.
The retailer said that trade relations with Unilever were “strained” as the company tried to impose a number of restrictions that would have resulted in a price increase for Delhaize’s customers.
“If we don’t accept their conditions they will change their buying conditions and impose a price increase of 30%,” a spokesperson for Delhaize told just-food. “Ultimately, this will mean higher prices for our customers and we won’t accept that.
“This is a very exceptional situation and it is only with Unilever that we have this circumstance.”
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By GlobalDataDelhaize said that Unilever’s move was “unprecedented” as it demanded the retailer stock products that were “less popular” with its customers.
Unilever insisted it was only looking for a price increase of 2.5%, a move that had already been accepted by Carrefour and Belgian discount retailer Colruyt.
A spokesperson for Unilever’s Belgian business said it was “not true” that the company was asking for a price hike of 30%.
“We have a legal obligation to ask for the same price increases from all our customers. If we had asked for 25-30% you can imagine that neither Colruyt or Carrefour would have agreed to that,” the Unilever spokesperson told just-food.
“No serious business would think about a price increase of 25-30% – that would be suicide,” she added.
The spokesperson said Unilever “deplored” the actions of Delhaize, which had seen products including Knorr soup and Becel spread delisted from all the retailer’s stores in Belgium.
She added, however, that talks with Delhaize are ongoing and that Unilever remains “confident” of a deal with the retailer.
