2025: The New Reality of Retail Negotiations – Are You Ready?

📉 Products that disappear from the shelves.

🤝 Negotiations that drag on.

💰 International buying alliances expanding their influence across markets.

2024 marked a turning point for many FMCG brands. For the first time, some manufacturers found themselves negotiating not only with individual retailers, but also with international buying groups that are reshaping the market dynamics. And it didn’t come without friction.

Think of Nestlé and Albert Heijn, where products were temporarily pulled from shelves due to stalled negotiations. Or Coca-Cola and Colruyt, where it took months to reach an agreement. Douwe Egberts and Colruyt also clashed over pricing, just like Mars and Carrefour before them. These are no longer isolated cases — they’re clear signs of a structural shift in the FMCG landscape.

The question is no longer if you will face this reality as a manufacturer or retailer, but when — and how you will respond.

A Complicating Landscape: More Stakeholders, More Challenges

International buying alliances are playing an increasingly dominant role, fundamentally altering the negotiation process. This means the entire structure of these discussions is evolving:

🔹 Longer and multi-layered negotiations – What was once a single discussion with a retailer is now split across multiple levels of decision-making.

🔹 Pricing decisions with a global lens – International buying groups benchmark prices across multiple countries, meaning local strategies need to align with broader international frameworks.

🔹 Retailers retain commercial control – While prices are influenced internationally, retailers still manage assortment decisions, shelf positioning, promotions, and local marketing.

🔹 Pressure spills across borders – If a manufacturer stands firm in Country A, they might feel the consequences in Country B. This cross-border dynamic makes internal alignment across markets essential to avoid being played against yourself.

This evolution forces suppliers to engage on multiple fronts:

1️⃣ With the buying alliance – Where pricing and conditions are increasingly decided with an international perspective. 2️⃣ With the retailer – Where commercial agreements remain local but must adhere to overarching international frameworks. The exact split between these levels is still evolving, but one thing is clear: the traditional negotiation model is disappearing.

How to Adapt to This New Reality in 2025?

📊 Preparation goes beyond the numbers – Data matters, but dropping a spreadsheet on the table isn’t enough anymore. How do you craft a compelling story around your product and brand?

🏬 Local plans must fit a broader framework – With pricing increasingly benchmarked across markets, local negotiation strategies must be aligned across countries to avoid internal conflicts.

🤝 Strong partnerships remain critical – Even as negotiations get tougher, trust and long-term collaboration still play a defining role. How do you ensure your partners see you as a strategic ally rather than a replaceable supplier?

Conclusion: Failing to Prepare Means Preparing to Fail

The FMCG retail environment is changing fast. Expanding buying alliances, tougher price negotiations, and increasingly complex decision-making processes will make 2025 a challenging year. But those who understand these shifts — and prepare for them — will gain a strategic advantage.

But be careful, preparation does not only mean lining up numbers and establishing a strategy on paper . It also means adopting the right posture, mastering your exchanges and knowing how to stay in control under pressure.

💡The real question isn’t if you should prepare — it’s how well you prepare.

Because in a world where the rules are constantly shifting, your preparation and behavior determine whether you leave the table with the best deal. 🚀