From 1 March, when the Government’s decree limiting retail margins on basic foodstuffs expires, the retail chain Delhaize in Serbia is planning a significant change in its operations by withdrawing around 50 per cent of certain suppliers’ products from its sales range, NIN has learned.
The decision, which appears to form part of the chain’s strategy to adapt to new market conditions and forthcoming legislative changes in the field of trade, has caused considerable concern among domestic suppliers.
“Delhaize has informed a number of manufacturers and distributors that it is removing around 50 per cent of their products from its range, yet at the same time, although this threatens their very livelihood, it has nevertheless asked them to offer it the best sales price on the market. Their justification is that it is not profitable for them to maintain such a varied assortment,” says our source familiar with relations between the company and its suppliers.
He adds that suppliers are outraged by the decision of the largest retail chain in Serbia and are calling on the Government of Serbia to extend the duration of the Decree on Special Conditions for Conducting Trade in Certain Types of Goods, which entered into force on 1 September last year, until the announced law on unfair trading practices is adopted and comes into effect, thereby preventing lasting consequences for the domestic economy.
“In this way, suppliers find themselves caught between a rock and a hard place, namely Delhaize and the state, who are squabbling while the economy suffers, as do other retailers, primarily domestic chains, which have borne the consequences of the decree and have behaved responsibly over all the previous years,” our interlocutor believes.
He recalls that the Government adopted the decree on margin limitations with the aim of lowering retail prices, which did occur, as evidenced by the reduced inflation rate since the decree came into force. “The decree aimed to ensure a more even distribution of value within the supply chain and therefore limited additional supplier rebates granted to retail chains, thereby preventing potential losses and the closure of domestic factories,” he says.
As NIN has learned, Delhaize is demanding from its suppliers the “best net price”, that is, the lowest purchase price they are prepared to offer, in order to secure competitiveness and preserve profit margins under conditions of capped margins. Suppliers view such a demand, at a time when the number of items ordered from them is being reduced, as a further blow to their survival.
This move by Delhaize reveals the underlying problem of the balance of power between large retail chains and domestic producers. State-imposed price caps, introduced with the intention of protecting consumers, have created additional pressure on retailers’ margins, who are now seeking savings by consolidating and reducing their assortments to the fastest-moving and most profitable items. For Delhaize, this represents operational rationalisation; for suppliers, it means losing half their shelf space and a drop in sales volume.
In the background lies a long-standing practice in contractual relations whereby some large retailers expect suppliers to contribute financially to the opening or refurbishment of stores, as well as to promotional activities, thereby shifting part of their costs onto manufacturing companies.
Our source points out that Delhaize once again finished the 2025 financial year as the single largest chain, with a market share of 14.9 per cent, and for some suppliers accounts for more than 20 per cent of their turnover, which, he claims, clearly shows how vulnerable they are to the company’s decision. “This is a major blow primarily to the Serbian food-processing sector, as production capacities will remain unused, and there are also issues of wage payments and potential redundancies. The future of manufacturers and distributors is uncertain, as the retailer is using the period between the expiry of the decree and the entry into force of the law on unfair trading practices to exert this pressure, amounting to genuine commercial retaliation, which will be prohibited once the new law comes into effect,” our source emphasises.
In response to claims by certain suppliers about the withdrawal of a large number of their products from the assortment, we contacted Delhaize, but by the time this issue of NIN went to press, we had not received answers to our questions.
Meanwhile, the Ahold Delhaize group, of which Delhaize Serbia is a member, has initiated arbitration proceedings before the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) in Washington over the application of the decree limiting retail margins in Serbia. The International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes is a global institution that handles disputes between states and foreign investors. ICSID is part of the World Bank Group and is headquartered in Washington.
The company confirmed that it had filed a request for ICSID arbitration in order to “protect its rights under the bilateral investment agreement between the Netherlands and Serbia in relation to the regulatory measures implemented by the Government of Serbia in September 2025”.
In a company statement, it is noted that the measures adopted by the Serbian Government affected more than 85 per cent of Delhaize Serbia’s revenues, forcing it to close 25 stores and suspend planned investments for 2026, which, it is emphasised, resulted in the loss of several hundred jobs in Serbia.
The Minister of Domestic and Foreign Trade, Jagoda Lazarević, stated that the Ahold Delhaize group’s lawsuit has not yet officially been received and stressed that Serbia will fight to protect its national interests in the arbitration proceedings initiated by the company over the margin-limiting decree.
She said that from the very beginning of the decree’s implementation, Delhaize had complained, exerted a certain degree of pressure and, as early as last September, indicated that it expected its 2025 revenue to be lower than planned. She pointed out that margin caps are not an original Serbian invention. “Guided precisely by examples that are still in force in certain European Union member states – and I would remind you that they operate in some of those EU countries – we also have margin caps. Whether what they have now said, given that the lawsuit has not yet officially reached the Republic of Serbia, is part of their business strategy or perhaps a media strategy, I would not comment further. What lies ahead lies ahead; we will certainly fight, but we still believe we are doing the right thing,” she said.
She assessed that some praised the decree and some criticised it, but that the fact remains that price growth has been halted, some prices have been reduced, and work is underway on a longer-term regulation of the Serbian market.
“It is not only about margins. It is also about those so-called off-rebates, which are extremely important. And why are they important? Because representatives of Delhaize themselves once pointed to them in communication with us, saying that projected earnings in that segment would also fall short,” Minister Lazarević stated. She added that the public debate on the Draft Law on the Prevention of Unfair Trading Practices had recently concluded, that its adoption in the National Assembly of Serbia is being prepared, and that this is one of the key steps in further regulating the market according to the model existing in the European Union, something all stakeholders, both domestically and abroad, are well aware of.
“As for the decree, it was not aimed at a single company, as Delhaize is one of 27 retail chains covered by the decree. Of those 27 chains, 22 were established with domestic capital. There is no discrimination against them as an investor,” said Jagoda Lazarević. She noted that the decree cannot last indefinitely and reminded that it is in its final days and should expire at the end of February, whereas in some EU countries such measures last one, two or three years.
For the record, the Ministry of Internal and External Trade has announced that by the end of the first quarter of this year the adoption of three new laws is expected, which should introduce lasting order into relations between suppliers and retailers, as well as create conditions for the development of fair competition and the formation of realistic retail prices.
What consumers in Serbia are most interested in is whether these laws will eliminate the problem of unjustifiably high prices and whether retailers, now that the decree has lifted the freeze on producer prices, will attempt to use this as an opportunity for a new wave of retail price increases in supermarkets and shops. Naturally, consumers would prefer to avoid such a shock and blow to household budgets.
The laws in question are the Law on the Prevention of Unfair Trading Practices, the Trade Law and the Consumer Protection Law.
According to announcements, these regulations will provide a framework to replace temporary administrative measures and enable trade relations to be regulated systematically and predictably, in line with the rules applicable in the European Union.
With regard to the Law on the Prevention of Unfair Trading Practices, it should be emphasised that it is most directly linked to the issue of a fair market, as it governs relations between large retail chains and their suppliers, that is, agricultural producers and the food industry. Its ultimate aim is to prevent situations in which major retailers use their market power to impose unfavourable business conditions on smaller partners.
One of the key innovations is that retailers will no longer be able to pay suppliers for goods with indefinitely long payment deadlines. The law introduces an obligation for payment to be made no later than 30 days for fresh products and 60 days for industrial goods. In this way, producers’ liquidity is ensured, meaning they will no longer have to resort to expensive short-term loans.
The adoption of the new Trade Law will modernise the existing framework for conducting trade activities. The fundamental objective is to create a transparent environment with clear rules of competition and to prevent the formation of monopolistic positions.
The law will also recognise specific rules for online sales, including the obligation for retailers to display all costs transparently and to ensure consumers have the right to withdraw easily from a purchase within the period prescribed by European standards. The powers of the market inspectorate will be strengthened, granting it the right to request data on price formation and to forward identified irregularities to the Commission for the Protection of Competition.
Vesna Perinčić, President of the Management Board of the National Consumer Union, points out that the adoption of the Law on the Prevention of Unfair Trading Practices would protect producers while also preventing retailers from inflating costs and increasing the bill consumers pay at the checkout. According to her, the law introduces payment deadlines of a maximum of 30 or 60 days, depending on the type of goods. This means producers will have faster cash flow, enabling them to invest in production rather than take out costly liquidity loans.
Agro-economist Žarko Galetin also believes that the laws being introduced can resolve the problem of high prices faced by consumers, while at the same time adequately protecting suppliers. However, he adds that it is not enough merely to adopt laws; they must also be implemented effectively in order to achieve the desired results.
“Once they enter into force, it will be necessary to conduct very serious monitoring to determine whether they are applied in practice and whether, as a state, we have sufficient capacity to enforce them. This implies very strict supervision of their implementation. If this is done properly, I believe it will improve competition in the market, ensure fair business conditions and establish reasonable prices,” Galetin states.
(NIN, 13.02.2026)