Delhaize Bans 250 Unilever Items From Stores Pending Agreement

The Belgian retailer Delhaize SA (DEG) Tuesday said it had stopped stocking 250 products from Unilever Plc. (UN), pending an agreement in the companies supply negotiations.

"Unilever has taken commercial positions which are not acceptable," a Delhaize spkesman said. They have increased prices much beyond those levied in 2008, and we cannot pass the cost on to the customers, nor are willing to swallow the loss ourselves, he added.

Delhaize has stopped providing the products from various categories until it can reach an agreement with Unilever, the company said.

Before the failed supply negotiations, Delhaize Belgium used to stock some 400 items from Unilever, which makes Ben & Jerry's ice cream and household products such as Dove, Lynx and Cif.

-By Peppi Kiviniemi, Dow Jones Newswires; [phone]; [e-mail]