Supermarkets face more shortages of Douwe Egberts over pricing dispute

Supermarkets may once again be unable to stock Douwe Egberts coffee. JDE Peet’s, the manufacturer of the popular brand, has halted supplies due to a pricing dispute, Picnic CEO Michiel Muller confirmed after a report from De Telegraaf.

The newspaper reported that the European purchasing group for Jumbo and Picnic is no longer receiving deliveries from JDE. “We are ordering as usual, but JDE will not supply,” Muller explained. He added that the supermarkets are ordering at the price agreed upon earlier this year.

But JDE recently decided to raise the prices again as of July 1. This would result in coffee becoming 25 percent more expensive. Muller feels that this price increase is “unjustified.”

Supermarket shelves could empty quickly if no new stock comes in. Muller doesn’t know how long the current situation will last. “That’s impossible to say at this point.”

JDE stated that it remains committed to a healthy relationship with retail partners and is in ongoing talks with them.

“Without going into the details of those discussions, we can confirm that we will always continue to supply all products for which there is agreement on the commercial terms,” a company spokesperson responded.

Earlier this year, the manufacturer was also in talks with Dutch supermarkets about pricing, which led to several weeks of limited or absent stock in stores. That standoff eventually resulted in significantly higher prices.

According to JDE, a new rise in prices was unavoidable, partly because the prices of coffee beans have risen over the last two years. The company noted that independent analysts have also concluded that a further increase is justified based on JDE’s rising operational costs. However, Muller claims that the prices of the beans that JDE are referring to have dropped recently.

A spokesperson for Albert Heijn could not say whether the supply halt will also affects that supermarket chain.

JDE has continued to stress that it’s ultimately the supermarkets that decide what consumers pay in-store. “We’re seeing that private-label coffee is rising just as sharply in price, sometimes even more so. This shows that all coffee producers are being hit by broader market trends.”