Netherlands: Supermarkets circumvent tobacco ban

The sale of tobacco products will be banned in Dutch supermarkets from 1 July 2024. However, new tobacco outlets have appeared in recent months, half of which are owned by supermarkets.

The National Prevention Agreement established by the Dutch government in 2018 plans to significantly reduce the number of tobacco outlets by 2030. The goal is to limit access to tobacco products and achieve a tobacco-free generation by 2040, i.e. fewer than 5,% smokers in the population. Only stores specializing in the sale of tobacco products could continue their activity by 2032.

Several steps are intended to reduce the accessibility of tobacco products. Vending machines, which accounted for about a third of tobacco sales in 2019, have been banned since January 1, 2022. Exemptions have been obtained so that gas stations can continue to sell tobacco until 2030, and grocery stores until 2032.[1]In supermarkets (around 40% of sales in 2019), the sale of tobacco should end on July 1, 2024. However, some supermarkets have already adopted circumvention strategies regarding this ban.

New points of sale at the entrance or inside supermarkets

The anti-smoking organization TabakNee reported that in September 2023 it had observed the emergence of new points of sale[2]. Of the 33 new tobacco shops identified in the space of four months, half of them were set up at the initiative of supermarkets. The tobacco shop can then be located next to the store entrance, as is the case for a Jumbo store in Breda. At the same time, another formula consists of entrusting an operator with a point of sale dedicated to tobacco within the store; this is notably the strategy adopted by Dekamarkt, in partnership with the company Primera, owned at 46 % by British American Tobacco (BAT).

Some retail chains, such as Lidl from 2021 or Albert Heijn since 1 January 2024, have spontaneously announced that they are giving up selling tobacco products. However, the other chains do not intend to give up the 7.5 billion euros in margins made on the sale of cigarette packets, i.e. a total of 700 million euros over a year, representing approximately 7 billion euros of their turnover. The Dutch tobacco market is estimated at 4.4 billion euros per year, of which 2.4 billion euros are made by supermarkets.

The idea of a sales license is postponed

In the Netherlands, the law currently does not require any special permit to open a point of sale dedicated to tobacco products, which makes it easier to open new tobacco shops. However, from 1 July 2024, these tobacco shops will have to register with the authorities. A sales license system was proposed by health stakeholders, but was rejected during parliamentary debates. This issue will have to be taken up by the next government that emerges from the elections. The current team in place is not limited to "dealing with current affairs".

Keywords: Netherlands, tobacco shops, points of sale, sales license, supermarkets

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[1] Nagelhout GE, Poole NL, Metze M, Willemsen MC, Vermeulen W, van den Brand FA. Reducing the number and types of tobacco retail outlets in the Netherlands: Study protocol for a comprehensive mixed methods policy evaluation. Tobacco Prevention & Cessation. 2023;9(March):8. doi:10.18332/tpc/161825.

[2] Supermarkets open tobacco shops to get round pending ban, Dutch News, published January 9, 2024, accessed January 10, 2024.