‘Farming shouldn’t feel like survival’ – Farmers call for fair deals with supermarkets 

It comes as farmers, MPs and industry bodies call to strengthen the Groceries Code Adjudicator (CGA) and create a single regulator to protect farmers and ensure fair treatment by supermarkets.  

Supermarkets have been accused of “exploiting the power imbalance”, with one grower saying the current system means farmers are “negotiating with two hands tied behind [their] back.” 

Seven in 10 (69%) farmers surveyed feel the buying relationship between growers and retailers has worsened over the last two years, with 68% saying making a living through farming has never been harder, according to new independent research commissioned by organic veg box company Riverford. 

The research found that 76% of farmers surveyed believe the current supply chain regulatory system does not protect farmers from unfair supermarket practices and is unfit for purpose.  

Three quarters (75%) of respondents believe a single regulatory body to oversee the entire supply chain – from growers through to supermarkets – would ensure fairer treatment of British farmers.  

#GetFairAboutFarming campaign 

Eighty-six MPs have signed an Early Day Motion calling to merge the existing supply chain watchdogs, currently split across two government departments, into one stronger, more effective body.  

Farmers are among those backing the calls for a single, central regulator – spearheaded by Riverford’s #GetFairAboutFarming campaign. Over 3,000 people have also written to their MPs in support of better regulation. 

Apple farmer Richard Stogdon, from Sussex, said that the relationship between growers and supermarkets has “substantively deteriorated”. He added: “We take enormous risks in growing these crops.”  

Haydn Evans, a dairy farmer from Carmarthen in Wales, successfully pressured his milk buyer to pass on a 1p per litre price rise from supermarkets, only to find out that the buyer was then delisted just three months later.  

He said: “Supermarkets know how much they’re taking and how vulnerable farmers are; they exploit the power imbalance. They know that you are always negotiating with two hands tied behind your back.” 

Third-generation farmer Jonathan Hoskyns, who has also stopped supplying supermarkets altogether, said: “I don’t miss the stress, and I don’t miss the worry of not knowing what our fruit is worth until it has all been sold.” 

‘The problem is worse than ever’ 

Riverford’s research showed that 65% of farmers surveyed feel they have no choice but to accept the terms supermarkets set for fear of being delisted, while 76% of farmers surveyed feel under financial pressure from supermarket buying practices.  

Six in 10 respondents go as far as saying they consider their farm to be at financial risk due to retailer behaviour (61%). 

Farmers are faced with unbalanced buying practices when trading with supermarkets, with 99% of those surveyed saying they have faced at least one ‘unfair’ practice, including cancelled orders, late payments, and unfavourable, unfair or unprofitable pricing.  

Supermarkets rejecting produce over unreasonable demands, like specifics on colour, size or shape, leading to waste or a lower price that does not cover costs, are also cited, as is no notice from buyers for changed terms, the campaigner explained. 

This is piling pressure on stretched growers, with 82% of respondents saying unfair supermarket practices are contributing to stress and poor mental health amongst the farming community. 

Riverford founder Guy Singh Watson said: “For three years our #GetFairAboutFarming campaign has been calling for a regulator with real teeth, one that can stand up to supermarkets and help address the huge imbalance of power in our supply chains.  

“Over 113,000 people have backed that call, and even Parliament has debated it, yet farmers are still being failed by a system that’s meant to protect them. 

“The Groceries Code Adjudicator’s own research suggests things are improving, and that may be the case for the large companies with supermarket contracts, but our findings show the opposite is true for the small and medium-sized family farms that produce most of our food. The problem is worse than ever, with 69% of farmers saying relations with supermarkets have deteriorated over the last two years.” 

Mr Watson added that “farming shouldn’t feel like survival”. “It should be a livelihood to be proud of: producing good food, caring for the land and looking after the people who work it.  

“How can farmers do the right thing for their soil, their animals and the planet if they’re squeezed for every penny and lack the funds and security to invest in farming well for the long term? And how can shoppers make good choices when they’re being misled by supermarket farmwashing?” 

Mr Watson explained that farmers only want a food system that is “honest and fair”. “Creating a single, realistically resourced regulator to oversee the whole supply chain is a vital step towards that future and would finally hold supermarkets to account,” he concluded. 

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