Berlin
Attention parents: Germany’s most well-known baby product is being phased out of the Edeka range. The background to the listing.
Edeka customers have to be prepared for further cuts in the range: After the supermarket giant After a dispute about price increases, among other things, products from the Mars group were removed from the range, the company is now saying goodbye to Germany’s best-known baby product.
Edeka: Soon no more Pampers diapers on offer
CEO Markus Mosa announced according to the media at Edeka’s annual press conference: “We currently have 17 companies that do not supply us.” In addition to Mars, this also includes the companies Procter & Gamble (P&G), Pepsi and parts of Henkel, Schwartau and Unilever.
Last year, these companies had claimed price increases of three billion euros. At the beginning of 2023, the next demand came from 1.2 billion euroswhich Edeka did not want to accept.
After the popular chocolate bars, the most well-known products from Procter & Gamble disappear from the shelves: Pampers diapers. According to Mosa, P&G has not been supplying Edeka since the beginning of the month. Inventories should last until June.
Meanwhile, Edeka is already in talks with another possible supplier: the P&G competitor Kimberly-Clark. Its diaper brand Huggies is not yet available in Germany. According to Mosa, however, that could change within a few weeks.
Edeka boss accuses corporations of “greed”.
“The greed of the international brand owner is not letting up – and we cannot understand it in view of the often falling raw material prices,” Mosa clarified, adding: “We are clearly on the move in such a way that the branded goods industry maximizes its results and prefers not to supply.”
A negative effect on sales grocers the previous delivery stops have not yet had any: According to Mosa, sales have increased by around 5.6 percent or 3.5 billion euros to 66.2 billion euros.
To the missing item the Edeka range has so far included M&M’s, Twix, Celebrations, Balisto and Snickers. Also, Ben’s Original rice and Miracoli pasta are gone. When it comes to pet food brands, customers have gradually had to say goodbye to Whiskas, Cesar, Dreamies, Kitekat and Pedigree.
Edeka: What is behind the dispute with brand groups
Edeka and the companies mentioned have not recently clashed. The group of companies and the brand groups have been at odds for about a year. Edeka is not only fighting for the sake of its customers against the demanded price increases. For years, the company has fought against the image of being overpriced with numerous advertising campaigns and the expansion of inexpensive private labels.
If Edeka follows the price jumps, the retailer can no longer keep up with the cheap discounters. This in turn could mean a loss of customers. Especially since Aldi and Lidl were ahead of the competition last year: while Edeka 0.4 percent market share had lost, the discounters were able to achieve growth.
Apparently, Edeka is willing to fight for its market share: According to Mosa, the conflict will continue for months rather than weeks. Nevertheless, the Edeka boss emphasized: “I am confident that we will be able to offer consumers many products with stable or falling prices offer.”
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