“Rental Contracts with Breweries: Expectation to Buy Products and “Strangling Contracts””

“When you enter into a rental contract with a brewery, it is logical that you are expected to buy their products,” says Erik De Rop of vzw Oude Markt in “Laat”. De Rop operates two catering establishments on the Oude Markt in Leuven, he rents the premises of breweries: one from Anheuser-Busch InBev and one from Alken-Maes.

Filip Jans, owner of café Monk, an established value in Brussels that is in danger of disappearing, spoke earlier today about “strangling contracts.” There are indeed breweries that go very far in terms of what you may and may not serve, De Rop explains. “Sometimes even the milks for coffee have to be purchased through them.”