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Status: 04.12.2020 9:23 pm
After an offer that was rejected by millions, farmers have demanded more concessions from discount store Lidl. Otherwise, they threaten further blockades.
The Lidl discount store, which is owned by the Schwarz Group, responded to the farmers’ ultimatum, which ended at 8:15 pm on Friday night with an explanation. “The situation in agriculture presents us all – farmers, processors, grocers and consumers – with extraordinary challenges,” he says. As a grocer, Lidl cannot solve the problem alone. “To sustainably improve the situation of agriculture, courageous steps are required by politicians, processors and our competitors, and we will expressly support them,” continued the discounter. Lidl wants to meet this challenge and takes its responsibility seriously.
Farmers demand better long-term producer prices
Farmers have yet to comment on this. It is not clear when there will be more protests or blocking actions. Farmers had previously rejected the € 50 million offer that Lidl wanted to make available over the course of next year through the Animal Welfare Initiative. That’s not what you want, said a spokesman for the NDR in Lower Saxony. They did not want subsidies, but rather a system change towards better long-term producer prices. The farmers’ initiative “Land Creates Connection” even spoke of a pure marketing campaign. In the end, each company would only cost 192.31 euros. “A ridiculous amount with which the gaps in the factories cannot be filled,” he judged.
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The farmer president’s calls offer “consolation”
The president of the German Farmers Association (DBV), Joachim Rukwied, described Lidl’s offer on Friday in a press release as “comforting”. “Due to the ongoing price war, our farmers lose this amount almost every week,” he said. However, that’s not enough, a fundamental change is needed in the way we work together, says Rukwied.
Farmers want to get out of the “permanent culture of low prices”
Federal Minister of Agriculture Julia Klöckner (CDU) once again emphasized the need for an understanding between traders and agriculture. “One possibility for this is a code of conduct with which the trade gives itself its own rules for fair cooperation. I suggested it yesterday,” he said. The farmers’ association demanded a clear commitment from the trade to get out of the “permanent culture of low prices”. On Thursday night, farmers received calls from Lidl’s regional managers. An emergency summit with the other discount stores showed that Aldi, Rewe and Co. do not want to move, a farmer spokesman said.
More blockades threaten
In recent days, farmers in Lower Saxony, Schleswig-Holstein and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania have blocked several Lidl stores. After the end of the blockades, however, they had clearly stated that they were ready to escalate the fight and block the stores of all the discount stores for the weekend.
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