Australia’s peak farm body, the National Farmers Federation, has backed the call for the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission to launch an inquiry on the cost of fruit and vegetables. However, NFF President David Jochinke said he wanted to see the ACCC be given “some more teeth” to investigate outside of a formal request to hold an inquiry: “At the moment, the ACCC can’t force people to give them information unless the treasurer allows them to do that through an inquiry process. They need to have more strength and more ability to actually investigate these concerns when they are raised so that, when we talk about food price, the cost price squeeze on the average Australian, and what a fair price on agriculture would be, they can kick into gear.”
While Coles and Woolworths both recorded profits of more than $1 billion last year, morale among fruit and vegetable growers is at an all-time low, with 30 percent of them considering leaving the industry this year.
National Leader David Littleproud said that supermarkets are making record profits off the backs of hard-done-by farmers. “I previously called for an ACCC Inquiry into beef and lamb, but it must also now investigate fruit and vegetables – we need to investigate the price disparity, compel CEOs to give evidence, and have greater penalties for those who do the wrong thing, including not paying farmers a fair price.”
Source: news.com.au