Court ruling
Aldi Süd wins coffee dispute
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How cheap can food be in the supermarket? Tchibo believes that Aldi Süd offered its customers coffee too cheaply. Now a court has decided.
The Tchibo trading group has suffered a defeat in a legal dispute over coffee prices with Aldi Süd. The Düsseldorf regional court dismissed an injunction brought by the company against the discounter (ref.: 14 d O 14/24). The verdict is not yet final.
The coffee roaster had accused Aldi Süd of regularly offering coffee from its own brand Barissimo below cost price and therefore too cheaply since the end of 2023. This harms competition and consumers, and Aldi is violating the law, it was said. Tchibo wanted to have the discounter banned from selling coffee so cheaply.
From the judge’s point of view, the lawsuit was unfounded. A court spokeswoman said Aldi Süd’s actions were commercially justifiable. In this case there is no risk that competition will be impaired. There is also no apparent intention to force other companies out of the market. Aldi Süd welcomed the decision. Tchibo wants to check the verdict. “In case of doubt, we will defend our position through several instances,” said a spokesman.
Coffee could become more expensive
The cost price includes the purchase price of a product as well as all additional costs such as packaging, insurance and freight. Aldi Süd had meanwhile sold the 1-kilo pack for less than four euros. The discounter has its coffee produced by its subsidiary New Coffee. The coffee tax for roasted coffee is 2.19 euros per kilogram.
Food retailers work with mixed calculations. For some items the margins are higher, others are calculated low. This serves the purpose of attracting more customers to the stores and increasing sales volume. So-called corner price items such as coffee, milk or butter have particular traction because customers pay particular attention to the prices.
The Düsseldorf antitrust lawyer Johann Brück finds it “strange” that green coffee is more expensive on the world market than the beans from Aldi. The discounter is obviously accepting losses; this is not fundamentally forbidden. “Aldi doesn’t have a cost price for its own brands because Aldi produces them itself or has them produced for itself on a contract basis.” The victims are the producers. At such prices it is not possible to ensure fair growing conditions and wages in the countries of origin.
Coffee retailers and roasters are experiencing challenging times. Last year, green coffee prices rose by around 70 percent. According to experts, the main reason for this is, among other things, poor harvests in the most important producing country, Brazil. It is expected that consumers will soon have to dig deeper into their pockets for coffee. Tchibo had recently announced that further price increases were unavoidable.
DPA
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Source: Stern