Supermarket Price Wars
Mildred says he's been busy, I don't know where the time has gone since Christmas we are in MARCH !!!!
College is taking up so much of my time but is great, I'm learning so much. Hopefully I'll have another installment of the series "Becoming a Farmer" before too long. But in the meantime I've just logged on and seen Jonathan Taskers piece about the supermarket price wars and need to have a good rant and get it off my chest.
It makes me so mad. In fact I've just been talking to Mildred about this and his trip to SIMA. Everyone complains about the French going on strike at a whim. Well they have got it right. They take pride in what they do and are passionate about what they feel strongly about. Which includes agriculture and food.
A supermarket price war should not be a problem to a farmer. The farmers contract should be for the price of the commodity and it's quality. The NFU and Countryside Alliance should be ganging together and drawing up contracts for it's members that state the price for the produce to the producer which will not fluctuate after the contract has been signed regardless of the markting ploys af the retailer. If the retailer wants to be rash about getting customers through it's doors then it should work a bit harder at customer loyalty and take the price cuts on the chin themselves not expect the producer to suffer.
If enough poducers get together and start insisting on these sorts of contracts the supermarkets will eventually listen. The British shopper is a little more savy than the supermarkets sometimes give them credit for. They are becoming aware and demanding more british produce. The supermarkets are clammering for british produce at the moment because of the band wagon that has been produced by the likes of Jamie Oliver, Hugh Fernly-Whittingstall and Jimmy Doherty. If the British producers get together and hold out, not necessarily for high prices, but fair prices that are above the cost of sensible production, then I think in the long run these price wars will be a problem of the past for British Agriculture.
Don't Demand that Somebody Else does Something for you, (i.e.ombudsman). Get out there and do it for Yourself.
Ahhh that's better. Rant over and it's stopped raining, back to the lambing I suppose!