Supermarkets in trouble because of very angry farmers
Do you remember the angry potato farmer Astrid? She couldn’t sell her potatoes to the supermarket for a decent price because the supermarket was sourcing potatoes from abroad. Ridiculous, Astrid thought, and she is clearly not alone in this. This morning (Monday morning), hundreds of farmers blocked the distribution centre of Jumbo in Breda with tractors and cars. The protesters believe that supermarkets pay too little for farmers’ products.
A small group also visited the home of Jumbo CEO Frits van Eerd in Heeswijk-Dinthe overnight. The police were notified, but said that the conversation was “amicable” and that the farmers left afterwards. Van Eerd has not yet filed a report following the unexpected visit, police in Zeeland-West-Brabant told NU.nl late last night.
Several supermarkets occupied
This weekend, things also got heated in several places: on Friday and Saturday, farmers had already occupied supermarket distribution centres. Similar actions took place at a Jumbo supply centre in Raalte, at an Albert Heijn distribution point in Zaandam and at a food storage facility in Zwolle. As a result, some products were unavailable in supermarkets this weekend. The supermarket chains’ delivery services were also unable to deliver all their orders to customers’ homes.
Mayor Peter Snijders of Zwolle is not amused: many elderly and sick people are using supermarket delivery services precisely now—and they are doubly affected.
Protests continue
Albert Heijn stated that it wanted to speak with the farmers before Christmas, on the condition that the protests end. This commitment is insufficient for the farmers. They want to see that promise in writing and will continue blocking access roads to distribution centres until then. If your favourite product isn’t on the shelf, it probably isn’t because of panic buying this time, but because of the farmers’ protests… To be continued…
Also read:
- Potato farmer Astrid is angry—and here’s why:
- Help! The chocolate industry is overflowing with misery
- Striking news: are we drinking less wine because of coronavirus?!
Main image: Jumbo
