Lidl Féiz an Diddeleng
Shoppers have been left without certain products over the last couple of days after farmers' protests led to blockades on roads entering Luxembourg, causing supermarket supply issues.
Customers looking for fresh vegetables, fruit or dairy products have been left empty-handed after demonstrations in neighbouring countries blocked traffic on major roads this week.
Luxembourg's budget supermarkets have been hit the hardest by the blockades, as Lidl spokesperson Julien Wathieu told RTL they had experienced major shortages of fresh food. Lidl branches in the Grand Duchy are supplied by the company's Belgian distribution centres, resulting in empty shelves for the last few days as supply lorries have been unable to make their deliveries.
© RTL
Wathieu said it was a "complicated situation", and advised that discussions had been ongoing with farmers in Belgium since the road blockades began on Tuesday. Supermarkets are hoping to agree on a solution as soon as possible so deliveries can resume.
Provençale lorry held for 24 hours, Cactus remains least affected
Luxembourgish food wholesaler Provençale has also been struggling with deliveries. Spokesperson George Eichen told RTL that a truck belonging to the wholesaler was stuck in Neufchâteaum, Belgium, on Wednesday morning, unable to complete its journey despite being just 15 kilometres from the Luxembourg border. As the truck could not bypass the farmers' protests, the driver had to abandon the vehicle and its cargo of food, even after attempting to reason with protesters.
Eichen explained that someone had had to collect the driver from the scene, in what he called a "sporting" situation, while the truck full of food was held "hostage" for 24 hours and only recovered on Thursday morning.
Unfortunately around half of the products had to be thrown away when the truck arrived at its destination a day late. Eichen said an attempt had been made to negotiate with the protesters at the scene, but it had been difficult, if not impossible, to come to an agreement.
The only solution, as far as Eichen is concerned, is for trucks to attempt to avoid the blocked routes over the coming days and weeks, which means companies will have to reroute their manifests to avoid further wastage. The failure of this last delivery must now be compensated by the Luxembourg wholesaler in order to fulfil its customers' orders.
The Cactus supermarket chain confirmed its stores had experienced delays of around a day for items such as fresh fruit and vegetables due to the protests around a week ago. In response to RTL's enquiries, the chain said that although the delay had noticeable repercussions, shelves had not been left empty at any time and the delay had not been passed on to customers.
Cactus explained its distribution centre was situated in Luxembourg, reducing the risk of delays, and pointed out this had been one of the chain's advantages during the pandemic as it had reduced dependence on foreign distributors.
