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Status: December 30, 2020 6:40 am
Farmers have been blocking an Aldi warehouse in Hesel (Leer district) with tractors since Sunday. They left Tuesday night. Apparently there is a compromise.
The company has promised to hold a meeting with farmers, as well as representatives of politics and food retail in early January. The farmer’s negotiator told NDR in Lower Saxony on Tuesday that drastically lowering the controversial butter price was out of the question. Therefore, the blockade was initially loosened: trucks with fresh produce such as fruits, meat and vegetables could leave the Aldi site in Hesel. Late at night, the police announced that the peasants had finished their blockade with hundreds of tractors: “The tractors left around 10:40 pm.”
Farmers: it’s about existence
According to Anthony Lee, a spokesman for the “Land Creates Connection” movement, Aldi Nord originally intended to reduce the price of butter by up to 60 cents per kilogram. However, at the end of the year, it is only usual to lower it by 10 to 20 cents, and that will probably happen now, said Lee NDR 1 Niedersachsen. In case the corresponding contracts exist, he announced the end of the blockades. “Then we will see it as a success and we will withdraw little by little.” For affected farmers, it is about mere existence, the spokesperson had previously warned: even now, some can no longer afford to feed their animals.
Aldi Spokesperson: Everyone Involved Asked
“We understand farmers, but we cannot solve the whole problem alone,” Serra Schlesinger, a spokesman for Aldi-Nord, said Tuesday. You need to talk with everyone involved. The company was unable to negotiate prices directly with farmers: “In the middle are the dairies.” If too much milk is produced, the price is correspondingly low. An Aldi spokesperson had previously emphasized that butter prices rise and then fall again due to high demand around Christmas time, it is completely normal and the same every year. “This principle is also basically reflected in the dairy offers, as they are presented to all dealers at this time of year,” the spokesperson continued. The company does not comment on the details of the ongoing price negotiations.
Otte-Kinast: appointment scheduled for January
Agriculture Minister Otte-Kinast has expressed his understanding for farmers. (File image)
A few weeks ago, regardless of the current talks between farmers and Aldi, a video conference with retailers, processors and farmers was arranged for January 13, as announced by the Lower Saxony Minister of Agriculture, Barbara Otte-Kinast (CDU). “Then it comes to strategies for vegetables, milk and meat. I take the concerns of farmers seriously, but the policy does not set prices,” the minister said. “I can understand the anger and rage of farmers. I would like to direct this energy in the right direction. To find solutions, all market partners have to come to a table. We need long-term strategies,” demanded Otte-Kinast.
Actions in multiple counties
Strangers threw around ten cubic meters of manure in front of an Aldi branch.
Meanwhile, farmers’ protests had spread to various regions. There were actions in Salzgitter and Weyhe (Diepholz district), as well as Rinteln (Schaumburg district), where farmers wanted to break their blockade on Tuesday evening. In front of the Aldi branch in Himmelpforten (Stade district), strangers deposited a large pile of manure on Tuesday night. The police spoke of about ten cubic meters of manure and launched an investigation for an administrative violation in the waste disposal area. The manure pile has now been removed.
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