More on the food-price battle

In the comments to my previous post on pricing tensions between suppliers and food retailers, Mark Ahrens pointed us to the Unilever-Delhaize dispute in Europe, where Delhaize tossed hundreds of Unilever products out of their stores.

Unilever spokeswoman Aurelie Gerth said Delhaize, which had already removed 70 other Unilever goods before October, refused to buy all the brands the company offered and wouldn’t guarantee new products would get shelf space. Though talks continue, there’ll “probably not be a solution this week,” she said.

“We didn’t agree to their terms, so they refused to grant us discounts,” said Delhaize spokeswoman Liesbeth Rogiers. “That would really boost our purchasing prices and we can’t and won’t pass those on to our customers.”

Throwing out one of the world's leading CPG companies seems like a pretty bold step, and one suspects Unilever won't be out for long. But I was struck by this step that Delhaize has taken:

Delhaize plans to sell the remaining Unilever products it has in stock, and has put up signs in its stores directing shoppers to alternative brands and private labels, Rogiers said.

In regard to food prices in general, a bit of perspective might be in order. This item from WomensDay has, among other things, comparative prices (adjusted for inflation) for food products -- in the 1950s, a dozen eggs cost the equivalent of $5.29, and in the '70s a pound of round steak was $9.33. The next time I gripe about prices, I'll try to keep those in mind.