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Monday, December 28, 2020
Butter 60 cents cheaper?
Dairy producers block several Aldi warehouses
As Aldi negotiates new butter prices with dairies, hundreds of farmers loudly protest with their tractors in front of the discount store central warehouses. Farmers fear for their future; according to their statements, a 40 percent reduction in prices is being discussed.
There is fear among dairy farmers. Many of them fear a drastic drop in milk prices and have therefore now taken their tractors to demonstrations. In Schleswig-Holstein, a total of up to 200 farmers protested in two places against what they saw as the threat of price cuts in supermarkets for agricultural products.
In Nortorf, farmers protested up to 100 vehicles and loud horns in front of the Aldi central warehouse on Sunday night, as announced by police. Due to low traffic, there were no traffic obstructions despite the tractor column. However, residents had complained about the noise. The farmers had stopped honking. Up to 100 tractors had also gathered in front of Aldi’s central warehouse in Gleschendorf in the Scharbeutz community, said Uta Schmidt-Kühl, president of the Schleswig-Holstein peasant movement “Land Creates Connection” (LSV).
There were also protests in Lower Saxony. In front of the Aldi central warehouse in Hesel in the Leer district, around 200 tractors were circulating on Monday, causing truck jams on the access roads.
The background for the actions is ongoing butter price negotiations between discounter Aldi and the dairies, Schmidt-Kühl said. A 40 percent reduction is being discussed.
Aldi company spokesman Joachim Wehner announced that Aldi Nord and Aldi Süd are currently in the butter tender. “The prices we pay are based on supply and demand across the market, influenced by many other factors.” It is completely normal and repeats every year for butter prices to go up due to high demand around Christmas time and then go down again at the beginning of the year. “This principle is basically reflected in the dairy offerings as well, as they are presented to all distributors at this time of year,” the spokesperson said. One does not want to publicly comment on the details of the ongoing price negotiations.
“This is pure desperation”
However, according to the peasant movement, the expected price cut is much more drastic than usual. A Lower Saxony LSV spokesperson said up to 60 cents was planned instead of the usual 10 or 20 percent.
The association is disappointed as there have already been initial discussions with major food retailers Aldi, Rewe, Lidl and Edeka regarding pricing, which should continue in January. The negotiations that Aldi has now started with the dairies to lower butter prices are therefore “a slap in the face,” Schmidt-Kühl said. Also, farmers are desperate. “That is pure existential fear. Nothing to do with fun and pleasure. That is pure despair.”
