Heineken sues Jumbo for delisting

Heineken has filed summary proceedings against Jumbo to demand an end to the boycott imposed by the retailer since the end of March. Playing in the background are negotiations with purchase alliance Everest.

“Bizarrely high” price differences

Heineken says that Jumbo has been ordering 78 % less volume since the end of March, and the retailer has even completely stopped buying some products, leading to empty shelves in many shops. The impact seems real: the brewer’s recent quarterly figures show falling sales in Europe due to “challenging price negotiations”. To put an end to that, the company has gone to court, where both parties were heard yesterday, Dutch newspaper FD reports.

According to Heineken, the delisting resulted from a price discussion in France with buying organisation Aura (Auchan, Casino and Intermarché), which is a member of the Everest purchase alliance and which allegedly called on the other members to boycott the brewer. Jumbo denies this and points to “bizarrely high” price differences with countries such as France and Germany. An attempt to still reach an agreement failed. The court will rule on 22 May, but the question is on what: it is, after all, a commercial discussion.