Due to farmers’ protests that are Friday and Saturday and are held at distribution centers of various supermarkets, a number of orders have not been delivered. At both Jumbo and Albert Heijn, spokespersons indicate that some of the customers who ordered groceries, “unfortunately” have not received their order.
AH has about 4,500 customers. AH also states that in the east of the country, customers will not find the range they are used to in all stores.
In Raalte (Overijssel) farmers have been blocking the entrance of a Jumbo supply center with tractors since Friday evening. In Zwolle, farmers campaigned at an Albert Heijn distribution center, and in the Gelderland towns of Oosterhout and Geldermalsen, there were also campaigns.
The spokeswoman for AH reported that the farmers who were still at their distribution centers are lifting the blockades. “We have indicated to the campaigning farmers at our distribution centers that they would like to talk to them. Our commitment is to have this conversation take place before Christmas, “she reports. The company, it says, has no reason to assume that the campaigning farmers now involved are farmers with whom Albert Heijn works.
A spokeswoman for Jumbo told the ANP news agency on Saturday evening that she “understand the concerns of Dutch farmers”, but also “do everything possible” “to keep the shelves well stocked and for now we see no problems. Our customers can still come to us for all their shopping. We try to deliver online orders later as much as possible, but unfortunately we had to cancel a number of orders. ”
The protest at the Albert Heijn distribution center caused traffic on the roads around Zwolle on Saturday. There was also action on Friday, when farmers in Woerden and Veghel blocked a Jumbo distribution center.
“Spontaneous action”
The farmers’ organization Farmers Defense Force (FDF) said earlier that it is a spontaneous action by individual farmers. An ultimatum from the action group expired on Thursday. FDF had demanded that supermarkets hand over 3 percent of their sales to the Farmer Friendly cooperative. Farmers are also angry about an agreement the cabinet concluded with the opposition on the nitrogen law. They call the tightened targets, halving nitrogen emissions by 2035, unfeasible.
The Central Food Agency (CBL) says it has indicated that it will take longer to look at the Farmer Friendly proposal. Director Marc Jansen said earlier that he would not be pressured with an ultimatum and associated threats.
On Saturday, the CBL repeated that message to the farmers. The CBL calls this type of blockade of distribution centers “unacceptable in this period of Christmas rush and the corona pandemic”. “Certainly in the busy month of December, the capacity to make up” lost trips “is very limited. Empty store shelves and possibly undelivered groceries simply mean that customers have to come to the store at a different time, which in turn creates extra crowds and longer queues. The blockages therefore pose a health and safety risk. Many people are being duped by the farmers’ actions. The CBL is in close contact with the government and authorities to ensure that the food supply for the Netherlands is not further disrupted. ”
