There are increasingly strict measures regarding smoking; rolls of tobacco and cigarettes are becoming more and more expensive and sales are becoming increasingly difficult. From 2024, smoking products may no longer be sold in supermarkets, only in specialty tobacco shops. And that will hit the small village supermarkets hard.
Henk Hoeve has been the owner of the village supermarket in Gasselternijveen for five years. When the new rules are introduced, he will not know how long he can keep his head above water with the supermarket. “Tobacco sales are 20 percent of my income,” says de Hoeve. “I’m all for a smoke-free society, but in this way it’s not fair to the small village supermarkets.”
livability backwards
If smoking products can no longer be sold in the supermarket, this means fewer customers, which means that the sale of other products also declines. “Large supermarkets ensure that a specialty tobacco store is opened next to their supermarket”, Hoeve continues. “Then my customers go there for cigarettes and then they do their other shopping there as well. The effect will also be felt at the local baker and butcher and so the quality of life in the village here deteriorates considerably.”
In response to the possible change, the shop owner sent a letter to the former State Secretary Paul Blokhuis of Health, Welfare and Sport. “It stated that, in my estimation, three to four hundred village supermarkets will disappear. I also included a calculation model so that he could see for himself what impact it would have on income.”
‘Five hundred village shops disappear’
After pressure from, among others, Het Vakcentrum, which stands up for small entrepreneurs, Blokhuis had an investigation carried out. Hove: “The conclusions showed that even 500 village shops will disappear and that the quality of life in the villages would deteriorate as a result.” Before Blokhuis left, he sent a letter – containing the outcome of the report and his recommendations – to the House of Representatives. “I hope that the MPs will read the letter carefully and realize the consequences this has.”