UK's apple growers feel they are being 'squeezed' by the 'big six' supermarkets. According to a House of Lords hearing, some growers are receiving as little as 3p on a bag of six apples. The same bag will then be sold for £2.20 in the supermarket.
One apple farmer in Kent – in the 'Garden of England' – accused the government of handing over regulation of the food sector to the major supermarkets. The findings of the Lords' Horticultural Sector Committee slammed the ‘relentless competition between supermarkets to keep prices low, which squeezes grower returns in the face of spiraling input costs and makes some crops unviable to produce’.
Seven of the eight biggest supermarkets repeatedly ignored invitations to give public evidence to the House of Lords enquiry. Tesco attended, but Aldi, Lidl, Sainsbury’s gave no evidence, while Asda, Morrisons and Waitrose only agreed to speak in private and Marks and Spencer gave written evidence.
The report revealed that only 17% of fruit consumed by the public is grown in the UK, with supermarkets continuing to buy cheaper supplies from abroad instead.
Source: farminguk.com