Consider international scene when looking at collaboration
Consider international scene when looking at collaboration
A PLEA has been made for competition authorities to consider the wider international scene when they are looking at new or expanding collaborative ventures.
The report said farmers reported that as soon as a venture achieved sufficient scale to reap benefits from collaboration, competition authorities challenged it as an abuse of market power.
"We think Competition Commission policy needs to be reviewed. We think it is unfair," said commission chairman, Sir Donald Curry.
The report said collaboration would have benefits for small and large farmers, as it would let them get economies of scale and get more out of the market. Getting more from the market is a strong theme throughout the report, as it claims one of its key aims is to get farms back into profit.
"We strongly believe in the potential of collaborative ventures for all farmers large and small," it said. The report recommended that an English Collaborative Board should be established to encourage and support collaboration.
To improve collaboration along the food chain it also suggested the creation of a Food Chain Centre to help to "reconnect" the whole supply chain.
One of the priorities of the new body should be to identify efficiency savings along the whole of the food chain, it said. The premise is that this would help primary producers by eliminating the inefficiencies which are being passed back to farmers.
"Our main theme is reconnection. We need the whole food chain working together to end the vicious cycle of falling profits," said Sir Donald.
Tesco, Britains largest supermarket, said it would be happy to see the establishment of a Food Chain Centre. "Tesco success is built on understanding customer needs and we want to help British farmers to achieve the same," it said. *