Belgian supermarket chain Colruyt has started putting a purchase limit on several of its products, from flour to frozen fries, as its prices are so low they are spurring small business owners to raid their stocks.
"Maximum ten pieces per customer. Like this, there is enough for everyone." This message is written on notes spotted hanging next to several basic products, including flour and sugar, on the shelves of Colruyt. In its store in the Brussels municipality of Auderghem customers can purchase a maximum of three bags of frozen chips.
This may trigger memories of anti-hoarding measures taken during the first stage of the pandemic and following the start of the war in Ukraine.
But this time the cap has not been introduced because of "ordinary customers" the supermarket group explained, meaning it should not affect regular household shopping.
Risk of empty shelves
The measure is the result of so-called "buyers and sellers," such as owners of smaller superettes, food shops or night shops, that purchase large volumes of products for which the prices at Coluryt are currently very low, such as salt, flour and sugar.
"At Colruyt, we guarantee our customers the lowest prices, making those products the cheapest with us. This is good news for consumers, who today are shopping ever more price-consciously," the company's spokesperson Eva Biltereyst told The Brussels Times in a statement.
"But in recent weeks we have noticed that buyers and resellers are buying in large volumes, leaving shelves temporarily empty."
Prices at Colruyt are currently so low that it is also cheaper for buyers and resellers to get products there rather than via their own suppliers.
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"We want to serve as many customers as possible and let them enjoy products at the lowest prices. Therefore, we limit the number of pieces per customer," Biltereyst explained. The temporary cap has been put on eight products, all of which are produced by Colruyt's own brands Boni and Everyday.
The store will "only" sell ten 1 kg packets of Everyday sugar, wheat flour, self-rising baking flour, and kitchen salt per customer; frozen chips and fine fries (Boni's 2 kg bags and Everyday 2.5 kg bags) have been limited to four per customer.
"If customers would still like to buy more packs, our colleagues at the checkout will engage in conversation with the customers and explain why this is not possible," Biltereyst concluded.
