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They belong to Switzerland like the alphorn, the razor and the Aromat: crisps from Zweifel. Anyone in this country worth their salt serves up French fries from the Spreitenbach orange factory in Aargau at their barbecue party.
German discount stores Aldi and Lidl would also like to benefit from the popularity of the Zweifel chips. According to research by SonntagsBlick, they have been trying to introduce the traditional brand into their range for a long time. They expect not only more sales, but also more Swiss.
Thomas Liechti, Head of Communications at Aldi Suisse, said on request: “Yes, it is true. We have been trying to offer our customers Doubt chips for years. So far, sadly, it hasn’t worked. “
Sounds similar to Lidl’s media office: “We can confirm that we are primarily interested in Doubt chips and we think they would complement our existing offering well.”
The doubt is covered
It sounds crazy: Doubt makes a product, finds rich buyers for it, but then refuses to sell the product. How
Doubt Pomy-Chips AG comments on the procedure with a nonsensical statement: “As one of the most popular Swiss brands, it is very important for us to have our products available wherever our consumers are, whether in the retail trade or at the Gas Station. , at the kiosk or in the restaurant. »
To achieve this goal, he also regularly exchanges ideas with potential future clients. “However, we are not making the content of these conversations public.”
In other words: no comment.
Tactical considerations
Anastasia Li-Treyer (61), CEO of the Swiss association for branded products Promarca, is not aware of individual manufacturers’ delivery strategies, not even those of Doubt. However, she offers a possible explanation: “Certain brand manufacturers attach great importance to the environment in which their product is offered for sale. For example, some do not like their brand being displayed in cardboard boxes or sold at discounted prices. “
In fact, these considerations could play a role when in doubt. After all, discount stores Aldi and Lidl aren’t exactly known for selling their wares at particularly low prices.
Which speaks against this theory: At Denner, a subsidiary of Migros, whose stores are also unglamorous, Doubt chips have been on the shelves for years.
Is the competition behind it?
This fact begs the question: Are Migros and possibly Coop pushing behind the scenes for Doubt not to hand over Aldi and Lidl? After all, the two main dogs are Doubt’s biggest customers and they benefit from the fact that country tokens are not available in German discount stores.
There is no question about this question. Migros and Coop reject such assumptions. “We have no influence on the delivery decisions of our suppliers,” says a Migros spokesperson. Coop’s media department, in turn, says: “We generally do not comment on commercial matters that involve third parties.”
Weko doesn’t see the need to act
The evaluation of Andrea Graber Cardinaux (44), deputy director of the Competition Commission (Weko), is more exciting. She states: “The mere fact that a food producer like Zweifel refuses to supply certain retailers is no reason for Weko to intervene.” However, if it were found that Migros and Coop urged suppliers not to supply other distributors, this would be problematic under competition law. After all, both of them had a solid position in both the sales market and the acquisitions market.
Graber Cardinaux emphasizes, however: “An investigation into the Weko would require a specific suspicion that the delivery decision was influenced by Doubt.” The fact that the Migros subsidiary Denner is supplied by Zweifel is not sufficient as an initial suspicion.
“We do everything to get the best fries!” It’s how Doubt announces the favor of Swiss nibbles. This could be. However, one thing is clear: the fact that the “best chips” are available everywhere is apparently less important to the Aargau family business.
