Crisis in Belgium: nearly 600 supermarkets on the verge of bankruptcy

“Bankruptcy threatens them sooner or later,” says Eric Van Den Broele of GraydonCreditsafe. But many other Belgian supermarkets are also likely to face difficulties because one in two stores has too few reserves to cope with unexpected shocks.

The supermarket sector scores significantly lower than the average for Belgian companies. “Two scenarios are possible: either we will have a lot of bankruptcies in the near future, or there will be even more takeovers and there will only be big players left who absorb all the small ones”, predicts Eric Van Den Broele.

Supermarket margins have fallen to historic lows. “For 100 euros at the checkout, there are 1.29 euros left for the supermarket,” says Aurélie Gerth of Carrefour.