Because it was apparently not possible to agree on sales prices with Lidl, Ritter Sport has not been supplying any branches of the discounter since the beginning of May. As soon as the remaining stocks are sold, customers will probably no longer be able to buy the chocolate bars.
Discounter Lidl apparently remains tough in the price dispute with chocolate manufacturer Ritter Sport and does not accept the demanded price increases, as reported by Lebensmittel Zeitung. According to reports from industry insiders, Ritter Sport stopped deliveries to Lidl at the beginning of May.
The head of Germany at Ritter Sport, Michael Lessmann, did not want to comment on the negotiations with the discounter when asked by the LZ. At the same time, he also let it be known that “Lidl does not yet have any 100-gram bars from Ritter Sport in the new design.” An indication that no deliveries have actually been made to the discounter in the past few weeks.
Even before the delivery stop to Lidl: Ritter Sport is also arguing with Kaufland
According to the report, there were already disputes between Ritter Sport and the Lidl sister company Kaufland at the beginning of the year. In many a Kaufland branch, this is evidently already noticeable through gaps in the range. A Kaufland spokeswoman did not want to make any “statements on the details of the negotiations”, but at the same time referred to the “many alternative products” in the range.
The stumbling block in both cases is the price increase that Ritter Sport announced last fall. The step was justified at the time primarily with investments in sustainability.
Market data suggests that Ritter Sport is only arguing with the two Schwarz subsidiaries over the new prices. The manufacturer’s market share has even increased in the first four months of this year.
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