Delhaize's tactics included asking suppliers for price reductions and then buying most of the meat from the farmers who granted the smallest reductions – effectively forcing the others to grant even greater reductions. “This way, Delhaize forced us to give reductions up to 7.5%, without any compensations in the areas of quality or service. These guerrilla techniques reduce our already low margins even further.” Veva even accused Delhaize of forcing pig farmers to remain silent about these practices.
Delhaize's point of view is entirely different: “We do not want to go under market prices, but we did ask for a reduction if we bought huge quantities at once – and reductions for huge quantities are commonplace.”
The supermarket group – dubbed Delhaize-The Hyena as a very witty play on Delhaize-The Lion by the pig farmers – now pledged it will invest the efficiency bonus it created with these tactics back in the pig farming sector and it will start doing so before the end of the year. Spokesman Hans Michiels said most of the disagreement was due to errors in communication and promised to bring the matter of “fair and sustainable commercial practices” up at trade federation Comeos.
