• President of UOKiK Tomasz Chróstny has imposed more than PLN 87 million in fines on Auchan Polska for acting to the detriment of agri-food suppliers.
• The company charged its contractors for transporting products from central warehouses to Auchan chain stores.
• Internal distribution of goods from the chain's central warehouses to individual stores is the basic element that makes up the modern sales channel and is in the interest of the retail chain; therefore, demanding additional compensation for this service is an unfair use of contractual advantage.

A centralized system of delivering goods to stores is a characteristic of the operations of large retail chains. This is also the case with Auchan Polska which has more than 100 super- and hypermarkets. They are designed and built on the basis of centralization of supply and are unable to receive goods from hundreds of individual entrepreneurs. Without infrastructure facilities to centralize deliveries, the Auchan chain would not be able to compete with its competitors within the modern sales channel.

– Central transportation of goods improves the position of the retail chain. It is therefore not an additional service that should be paid for by the supplier but a core element of the business model of retail chains. For this reason, it is unacceptable to charge for transporting goods from the main warehouse to the chain's stores. This is financing its own operations at the expense of suppliers. For such action, I have imposed a fine of more than PLN 87 million on the owner of the Auchan chain – says President of UOKiK, Tomasz Chróstny.

Producers of dairy, cured meat, fruit and other food products bear the cost of delivering them to Auchan warehouses. Since now, it is the retail chain that becomes the owner of these goods and decides on its own about their distribution to individual stores. A survey conducted in the course of the investigation showed that suppliers have no influence on Auchan's internal logistics stage, while they have to bear its costs. In the decision issued, President of UOKiK stated that this constituted unfair use of contractual advantage against suppliers of agri-food products. In addition to the fine, he also ordered the chain to stop the practice. The issued decision is not final and biding and may be appealed against to the court.

Charging for transportation from central warehouses to retail chain stores was identified as an unlawful practice in the report of President of UOKIK on retail chains' per-store fees. An investigation into such practices applied by Carrefour Polska is also underway.

These are not the only actions taken by President of UOKiK Tomasz Chróstny regarding discounts and fees in relations between retail chains and suppliers. For example, in 2020 a decision was issued for Jeronimo Martins Polska - owner of the Biedronka chain. The company imposed unfair discounts on its contractors.  In 2021, President of UOKiK issued decisions pertaining to Eurocash. The enterprise charged suppliers of agricultural and food products a number of additional and unjustified fees. Some of the services paid for by the counterparties were not performed at all while some should have been provided by the company under the signed agreement without additional remuneration.  In the same year, a decision was issued on Kaufland Poland Markets practices. The company required suppliers to reduce the price of agricultural and food products after they had already been sold. In a recent decision, President of UOKIK obliged the company SCA PR, responsible for purchasing at the Intermarche chain, to change practices unfavorable to suppliers of agri-food products. The challenged practices concerned the establishment of the rules of cooperation during its term and obtaining discounts despite failure to meet the conditions stipulated in the agreement. As a result of the actions taken, the company will amend the agreements and will give back the unfairly collected discounts to the contractors.

Entrepreneur, farmer, if you operate in the agricultural and food industry and your major counterparty abuses its competitive advantage by imposing unfavourable conditions of cooperation – report it to UOKiK. We have launched a special form to help you report any irregularities. Click here to fill it out: https://ankieta.uokik.gov.pl/formularz-zgloszenie-przewaga/.