David against Goliath
Swiss market gardeners bend co -op on controversial rebates
To everyone’s surprise, the distribution giant renounces imposing a 3% “bonus” on its suppliers. This levy would have cost the farmers 12 million annual francs.
Many market gardeners depend on large distribution.
Manuela Matt
- Following protests, Coop withdraws the “bonus” of 3% which he intended to impose on market gardeners.
- The Swiss markets association has filed a complaint against Coop with the Competition Commission (COMCO).
- The discount would have cost 12 million francs a year to vegetable producers.
The Swiss market gardeners won a victory against an apparently all-powerful opponent: Coop. When the retailer wants something, he generally gets it, at least for vegetables and fruits. There are many farms that depend on him as a big buyer. If Coop wishes to modify the contractual conditions, they usually have no choice but to accept.
The dissatisfaction of market gardeners and fruits was all the greater when, in April, Coop announced to them by mail that they should pay a “bonus” of 3% from January 2026. Concretely, it was a discount on the billed value. At the end of the year, farmers should have donated 3% of their annual turnover to Coop. Producers delivering to the Bern Coop distribution region are already subject to a similar “bonus” of 1%.
The Coop group then justified its decision by invoking its new order system. According to the company, the latter facilitates the work of producers: suppliers would receive final orders earlier and thus benefit from better planning safety, which would improve efficiency.
Peasants do not dare to criticize Coop
Many market gardeners did not agree, but for fear of compromising their trade relations with Coop, they only expressed their criticisms half-word. The association Swiss fair markets (MES), Who defends just prices and supports farmers, for his part demanded that Coop renounces his new conditions. As the distributor refused, the association filed a complaint with the Competition Commission (COMCO) for suspicion of abuse of dominant position.
According to the president of MES, Stefan Flückiger, Coop imposed “non -negotiable conditions”. He is all the more delighted with the latest developments in the case.
To everyone’s surprise, Coop decided, at the end of July to give up its new conditions. Despite the good results of the new order system, negotiations with the various suppliers have proven to be “too complex”, explains a spokesperson for the giant of large distribution. The brand therefore decided to abandon the talks and directly inform the producers.
A “distorted market” according to Swiss market gardeners
Stefan Flückiger considers that Coop has given up under media pressure and for fear of a condemnation of the Comco. “The fundamental problem is not yet resolved,” said the president of MES. According to him, competition is generally distorted on the fruits and vegetable market, as on that of many other agricultural products. Most producers depend on a few large retailers.
The latter have engaged in an ever more intense price war in recent months, especially due to the Discount strategy adopted by Migros. Although large groups have declared that they do not want to pass on this tariff pressure on farmers, the latter report more and more harsh negotiations.
Abouts not only at Coop
All large distributors adopt similar behavior, explains Toni Suter, president of the Argovian section of Swiss market garden union: “Sometimes it is one who is the most equitable, sometimes it is the other.” According to him, Coop is not the only brand to demand rebates. A few years ago, a distributor, for example, had established a discount in exchange for an accelerated rules of invoices. “At the time, the branch had accepted this practice,” says Toni Suter.
According to Toni Suter, many fruit and vegetable producers work with margins of only a few percent. In this context, even small rebates weigh heavy. If Coop had maintained its 3%, it would have cost farmers around 12 million francs per year, according to the Swiss equitable markets association. For the moment at least, they seem spared: Coop indicates that no comparable adaptation of the delivery conditions is provided immediately.
Translated from German by Olivia Beuhat.
“Latest news”
Do you want to stay at the top of the info? “24 hours” offers you two meetings a day, not to miss anything of what is happening in your canton, in Switzerland or in the world.
Other newsletters
Did you find an error? Please report it to us.
