Albert Heijn in trouble for Belgian promotion

The “buy one, get two free” promotion Albert Heijn has issued in Belgium, has caused the FPS Economy to start an inquiry into the Dutch retailer. Selling at a loss is illegal in Belgium.

Same action, same result

In the week containing New Year’s Day 2020, the chain reprised its promotion saying that anyone buying a specific item on a specific day, could buy one and get three of the products specified. The Federal Public Service Economy has now said it will look into whether or not that huge discount means that those items were sold at a loss – which is illegal in Belgium. “As it is a similar action as last time, we will indeed launch another inquiry“, spokesperson Chantal De Pauw told Belgian website BusinessAM.

Last year, the Dutch retailer had already offered a similar discount, and the FPS Economy had the same response in store. Their suspicions proved partly justified, as Albert Heijn was indeed selling two of the then 28 products involved at a loss. This time, the product range involved was a lot smaller – possibly the retailer has taken the outcome of the previous inquiry into account.