Fears of mass Qld farmer walkout over claims supermarkets screwing them over when it comes to price

Queensland Premier Steven Miles says he has reached out to the CEOs from major supermarkets amid concerns over a mass farmer walkout and fears up to 30 per cent of fresh food could be lost and prices soar.

Queensland Premier Steven Miles says he has contacted CEOs from all of Queensland’s major supermarkets calling on a meeting to discuss how to address “farm prices” and costs for families.

He made the comments on Sunday after The Sunday Mail reported up to 30 per cent of Australian fruit and vegetable growers will walk away from their farms because supermarkets won’t pay a fair price for their produce, according to a North Queensland farmer.

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National Party leader David Littleproud had called for an Australian Competition and Consumer Commission inquiry into fruit and vegetable pricing, claiming farmers are being ripped off.

Mr Littleproud said the matter was urgent and a Senate Inquiry into grocery prices this year wouldn’t go far enough.

“Farmers are walking away because supermarkets are taking them for a ride,” Mr Littleproud said.

There are mounting claims farmers are being ripped off by the big supermarkets. (AAP Image/Dave Hunt)

Farmers say serious pricing problems arose during the Covid years when supermarkets made enormous profits which do not appear to have disappeared along with the pandemic.

Mr Miles on Sunday said he had taken action.

“I can confirm, last week I wrote to the CEOs of all the major supermarkets in Queensland on behalf of the Queensland government and I indicated to them, that I was concerned with the growing gap in the prices being paid to farmers as compared to the prices being charged to Queensland households at the supermarket,” Mr Miles said.

“The fact is these grocery stores are making very large profits and those profits are having an impact on the cost of living for families wanting to put food on the table as well as farmers trying to make a living.

“So I’ve asked those CEO’s to make executives available to meet with me and to discuss what efforts we might be able to do together to both address farm prices as well as food costs for families.”

Queensland Premier Steven Miles on Sunday. Picture: Glenn Campbell

Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry of Australia Murray Watts said it was an issue he had been calling on supermarkets to address for months now and he was glad the Nationals had jumped on board.

“I think all Australians expect the big supermarket chains to pay our farmers a fair price and I think in too many instances that’s not occurring,” he said.

“That’s exactly why last year we commenced a review of the food and grocery code, that’s a national code of conduct that applies to supermarkets, wholesalers and farmers. “It’s about making sure the supermarkets are being fully transparent about the prices they are paying farmers so farmers have a level playing field when it comes to negotiating prices.

But Mr Watts said supermarkets didn’t need the reviews to be conducted for them to reduce their prices.

The Sunday Mail had earlier reported Daintree Fresh far north Queensland farmer Shaun Jackson is warning Australia’s food supply will be compromised as farmers stop selling to supermarkets and walk away.

Mr Jackson said 80 per cent of his product, melons, was now going to Japan.

In Australia, an average melon would sell to the supermarkets for up to $1.50, he says.

But supermarkets would then sell the exact same product to consumers for around $5.90 each.

“Instead of dealing with Coles and Woolworths I’m now sending 200,000 boxes of melons overseas,” Mr Jackson said.

Mr Jackson said the problem was spreading across the nation.

Shaun Jackson of Daintree Fresh at Lakeland, with specialty melons that will be exported to Japan. Picture: supplied.

“It’s not just me,’’ he said.

“We are on the precipice of losing 30 per cent of farming, which is 30 per cent of food, if we don’t fix it.”

Scenic Rim tomato farmer Troy Muller said Queensland needed to see “real change” or there would be a rapid decline in farmers, who were becoming “disheartened” by the industry’s current state.

“Some growers are held over the barrel with supermarkets as they sell 50% of their produce to the big three, and they have to keep doing so in order to maintain their business,” he said.

“But places like Woolworths and Coles, they never lose – they do not lose in this system.

“Food security is going to be a massive problem moving forward, growers will be leaving the industry and I don’t know who will replace them.”

Last month Chris Leptos, the Federal Government appointed Independent Reviewer under the Food and Grocery Code, released a report which included troubling findings concerning the behaviour of the big four supermarkets, Coles, Woolworths, Aldi and Metcash, when dealing with their suppliers.

Tomato grower Troy Muller.

Chair of the NFF Horticulture Council Jolyon Burnett said it was disappointing to see supermarkets were dragging their feet when responding to price increase requests from fruit and vegetable suppliers.

“We have for a long time been hearing directly from growers about the squeeze from the increasing costs of production and the inability to pass those costs along the supply chain,” Mr Burnett said.

“These results validate a feeling that the speed of response is a tactic of supermarkets to keep the prices they pay to growers as low as possible for as long as possible.

“What then infuriates growers, who are also supermarket customers, is witnessing prices rise far more steeply at retail than they are at farmgate.”