First reaction: The association of large commercial networks talks about “victimization” in the case of the ice cream in Teleorman

Initially, Carrefour France had said that the manufacturer from Teleorman was delisted by its stores in Romania because it could not fulfill the “minimum orders” desired by the retailer.

The Association of Large Commercial Networks in Romania (AMRCR) sent a point of view to HotNews.ro on Thursday, after the publication of the article related to the delisting or non-acceptance of the Romanian ice cream manufacturer Cremola by 7 of the 10 large commercial networks.

HotNews.ro published the testimony of Irina Filip, the ice cream producer, documents from the relationship with retailers and Carrefour’s response.

The French company replied, from Paris, that in the case of the Romanian manufacturer, it did not have sufficient quantities and that is why it was delisted from its stores in Romania.

“This is a person who developed a small ice cream production business in Romania (…) present on our shelves from 2020 to 2022 and which was taken off the shelves in 2022 due to excessive logistical requirements in regarding the minimum orders”, was Carrefour’s response to HotNews.ro.

In Thursday’s press release, the association that represents the retailers claims that it “promotes the improvement of communication between economic operators” and that “we have no information about the presence of the ice cream manufacturer from Teleorman in local stores”.

The Association of Major Networks states that “we cannot become followers of approaches that could seek to compensate for a lack of commercial performance by triggering a public controversy that seeks to gain notoriety, which is then exploited in the relationship with consumers”.

We reproduce the full press release sent Thursday evening by the community of large commercial networks:

“AMRCR is the representative of the major chains on general issues of the retail industry.

The association cannot intervene in the individual economic relations that each retailer manages according to its commercial policy.

The sales performance of a product depends on several factors, but mostly on how the brand is managed by the manufacturer and its marketing policy. Obviously, along with these, other variables are also important, such as including the seasonal factor or adaptation to the specifics of the commercial area.

However, we cannot become adherents of approaches that could seek to compensate for the lack of commercial performance by triggering a public controversy aimed at gaining notoriety, which would later be exploited in the relationship with consumers.

There are numerous cases of local producers who, through the quality of management and entrepreneurial vision, have created and developed products or businesses that have been confirmed by consumers. It would be possible for their efforts to be overshadowed by promoting a campaign of victimization or generalization in the public space of unrepresentative situations. AMRCR supports and campaigns for compliance with all competition rules and is not aware of any elements that could call into question compliance with them”.

• The full article about the Romanian ice cream company refused or delisted by the big retailers can be read here.