2024-02-12 18:06:00
The climate is calm between farmers and the Colruyt group. A delegation of 5 farmers was received this Monday by managers of the mass distribution brand. Far from the tractors, blockages and horns, it was time for calm and the farmers had the feeling, following three hours of discussions, of having been heard and perhaps even understood.
“It feels good to have this feeling of being heard and having an exchange“, enthuses Aurélie Veys. The Ellezello farmer came out of these three hours of discussions with an overall positive feeling. In any case, she felt listened to: “We hope this is the start of constructive work for the future“, she adds. “This is already a first step. It’s a first small step. Afterwards, I hope that this will subsequently manifest itself through concrete actions and modifications to the system which might be beneficial to everyone, but above all, in the long term.”
The farmers had decided: for this meeting, no tractors, no demonstration, no agricultural unions. The time was for constructiveness, not for demands. The location of the meeting had also been deliberately kept secret.
Johan Baland, farmer in Jurbise, has a smile on his face. He exudes optimism in the Ghislenghien parking lot where we join him to ask him if the key word of this meeting is the term “confidence”, as we thought we understood it. “Cis what they wanted to tell ushe specifies, that they wanted to regain our trust and we told them that before having our trust they must appease our anger because at the start there is still a little anger“.
But in the end, Colruyt did not come up with any proposals. Isn’t that a bit of a shame? Don’t they have the feeling of being “put to sleep” by the brand? The answer is no”. On the contrary. “JI think that if we want to obtain things in the long term, it is not with a small announcement effect of 1 euro 50 here or there (editor’s note: the promises that Comeos made to them last Friday) that we will build in the long termestimates Johan Baland. I think it’s better that we can first understand each other, both on their side and on ours.“.
Colruyt, in a press release, is on the same wavelength: “LThe interview was constructive and left us with a good feeling on both sides. It was decided to maintain the good connection that exists today. To be clear, today it is regarding continuing the dialogue, we want to stay in conversation and we look forward to informing ourselves more widely, to exchange and, above all, to think together regarding the possibilities available to us at the future“.
The fact remains that the agricultural world suffers from divisions. At the time of leaving this meeting, Fugea said to itself “on guard” in relation to the promises of the Colruyt group. And a few hours later, other farmers, in the north of the country, in particular, announced new blockages, near the port of Antwerp. It is difficult to see this as a generalized sign of appeasement.
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