According to Financieele Dagblad, in order to circumvent the ban on cigarette sales that took effect on July 1, supermarkets in the Netherlands began to open professional tobacco shops next to their food retail stores.
Specialist tobacco shops do not need a license but will need to register from July. Supermarkets will then be banned from selling cigarettes and cigarettes. Anti-tobacco group TabakNee is campaigning to introduce tobacco sales licenses, a move supported by a majority of MPs.
The organization revealed in September that 33 new cigarette shops had opened in just four months, half of which were owned by supermarkets. In addition, Dekamarkt supermarket is trying to set up Primera stores in major stores. TabakNee said that 46% of Primera shares are held by British American Tobacco.
Rolf Hoogkamer, owner of the Jumbo franchise, said he had some doubts and said he was not a smoker.
"The demand is huge. Often it's senior citizens who live in nearby apartments who have difficulty walking. They can now easily buy cigarettes, which is a good thing," he said. According to FD, total sales of tobacco products reached 44 in 2020 billion euros, of which 2.4 billion euros came from supermarkets. "The profit margin per pack is 7.5 percent," Hogkamer added.
Jumbo Supermarket CEO Ton van Veen revealed, "Seven percent of our turnover comes from tobacco, which is about 700 million euros per year." The government has taken several measures to discourage smoking. Increased taxes on a pack of cigarettes have brought the price of 20 cigarettes to €10, banned advertising and required tobacco to be sold in unbranded packaging.
By 2032, the sale of cigarettes will be limited to professional stores. Lidl supermarkets will stop selling tobacco products in 2021, although independent franchisees can decide for themselves. The outgoing government has agreed to leave the tobacco shop licensing issue to the next government to decide.
