While the supermarkets’ latest round of discounting may be helping fruit and vegetable growers deal with an oversupply of produce, they must guarantee that growers will receive a fair return on their investment.

There remains a large gap between farm-gate prices paid by supermarkets and shelf prices paid by consumers.

Growers will have no problem with the latest cut-price strategy as long as they are being rewarded for their investment.

Coles claims that it’s able to get most fresh produce from gate to plate in 24 hours.

If the supply chain is so efficient, why is there such a high mark-up on some fresh items?

There are limited storage costs, and handling costs have been minimised – and often at the grower’s expense.

Without sustainable business practices from our supermarkets that allow both parties to profit, growers will be forced out of business. The result will be less fresh food choices and higher prices for the consumer.

If our supermarkets are serious about helping farmers, they need to commit to sourcing produce in an ethical manner by guaranteeing they will pay Australian food producers a reasonable price for their product.

Andrew Broad,

President, Victorian Farmers Federation.