IFA hits out at discounters’ vegetable deals
Chairman of the Irish Farmers Association Jer Bergin has accused discount retailers of hypocrisy in their approach to the sale of fresh produce.
Print8 March 2016
The Irish Farmers Association has hit out at the German discount supermarkets over their policy of selling fresh produce below cost price. IFA national chairman Jer Bergin accused the retailers of “gross hypocrisy” for their methods while also claiming to support Irish growers.
“Reducing the shelf price of some vegetables and potatoes to as low as 29c sends a very misleading message to consumers,” Bergin said at a protest at Lidl and Aldi stores in north Dublin this week. “I want to nail the lie that vegetables and potatoes can be sold way below cost without hurting Irish growers and eventually putting them out of business.”
Bergin described the practice of using below-cost selling as a tool to drive footfall as a distortion of the market for all Irish vegetables, saying that ultimately it would undermine Irish production and the financial viability of specialist growers. “These growers have invested hugely in their farming businesses,” he said, “in order to provide Bord Bia Quality Assured Irish fresh produce for consumers.
“Their sustainability cannot be taken for granted,” he warned.
Claims by supermarkets that they bear the entire cost of these hefty discounts are disingenuous and not borne out by the facts, Bergin said. “This continuous downward pressure and market destabilisation on fresh produce is threatening the livelihoods of local growers,” he said, “who are part of an indigenous sector worth more than €350m per annum to our economy.
Bergin called for new legislation to protect farmers from harmful below-cost selling, and an independent ombudsman to monitor the actions of retailers and enforce legislation, as is the case in Germany – the headquarters of the retailers in question.
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