Fed-up farmer’s message reiterates call for major supermarkets to drastically lower prices

A “fed up” Victorian farmer has reiterated his call to the major supermarkets to drastically lower their prices for fruit and vegetables.

A fed-up Victorian farmer has urged the major supermarkets to drastically lower their prices for fruit and vegetables, claiming profit-gouging is hurting consumers struggling with cost-of-living and driving growers out of business.

Ross Marsolino from Natural Earth Produce, a zucchini, tomato and eggplant producer in Victoria’s Goulburn Valley, told Sunrise this morning the situation was “getting worse”.

“It’s not getting any better,” he said.
“They (are earning too much money, where is that gap going? Who is making the difference? The supermarkets.”

Mr Marsolino said he was “definitely worried”.

“If they don’t sort it out this year we just can’t afford to do it, expense, wages, fuel everything is just too dear.”

He said he had one message for supermarket bosses: “Why are you making so much, why is there any need to make so much profit?”.

Fresh food price surge fears as Aussie farmers threaten to walk off the land over supermarket ‘price gouging’.

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‘Fed-up’ farmer Ross Marsolino with his zucchini crop. Picture: Instagram

Mr Marsolino is set to walk away from his 80-acre, $2m crop because it’s no longer financially viable. Picture: Instagram

Farmer plans to ‘walk away’ from $2 million crop

Mr Marsolino made headlines in November last year for a viral video posted on social media declaring he planned to “walk away” from his 80-acre zucchini crop.

“We’re going to walk away from 80 acres today,” he said.

“Mate, we’re not retailing the right price to be able to keep the product moving and selling. Plain and simple. The supermarkets are making too much profit out of our crops. We can’t survive. As growers we can’t afford to pay the workers, 50 people are going to be out of the system looking for work.”

Mr Marsolino told news.com.au he had made the “heartbreaking” decision to walk away from so much stock — which he estimated would be worth at least $2 million — because the economics simply didn’t stack up.

“I’ve been doing this since I was 19, I’m just fed up,” he said.

“I was a wholesale merchant for 16 years, now I’m at the other end of the scale as a farmer. I know how they operate.

“The problem we face is all the major supermarkets, they’re retailing too dearly. They purchase the product for $1.80 a kilo and retail for $4.99 — it’s too much mark-up. Fruit and veg is the biggest mark-up in the supermarket there is, whether it’s brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, zucchini, capsicum.”

If his zucchinis were sold at the “right price” of $2.99, he argued, “consumers will walk into the store, look at that zucchini and say that is my veg on the plate this week”.

The average Aussie household spent $182 on their weekly grocery shop.

“[The supermarkets] are not retailing for low enough for what they’re paying [the growers] to keep the commodity moving.”

While the frustated farmer told news.com.au he was giving farming one more year he wasn’t confident he would continuing farming past 2024.

“We are replanting as we go on,” he said.

“We haven’t pulled the pin but we will probably pull the pin later this year.”

The average Aussie household spent $182 on their weekly grocery shop in October 2023, according to comparison website Finder’s Consumer Sentiment Tracker.

Two in five (39 per cent) respondents said their grocery shopping was causing them financial stress. That number doubled over the last three years, from 19 per cent in October 2020.

Finder analysed the cost of trolley of comparable items across Woolworths, Coles and Aldi, finding the most expensive shop cost 7 per cent more than the cheapest option.

The total price for a basket of 46 goods from Aldi came to $199.69, followed by Woolworths at $208.85 and Coles at $214.32.

Coles, Woolies respond to farmer’s claims

A Woolworths spokeswoman said that when the supermarket buys directly from farmers “we pay the market price for produce, which can vary throughout the year due to weather, seasonality, supply and demand”.

“As a result of more stable growing conditions, many varieties of vegetables like zucchini are in high supply right now, leading to lower prices right across the market,” she said. “As a result, the average retail price of vegetables across our range is actually in deflation — meaning it’s lower than 12 months ago — as we work to ensure customers benefit from the current lower wholesale prices across the market.”

She added, “We operate in a highly competitive market and we’re always working to strike the right balance so suppliers receive a fair market price and our customers have access to affordable fresh produce.”

A Coles spokeswoman said the price of fresh produce paid by customers was influenced by many factors.

“The shelf price includes the price we pay our suppliers in addition the cost of factors such as processing, transport, labour, packaging and other costs associated with getting a product ready to go on shelves for our customers to enjoy,” she said.

“We source our vegetables such as zucchinis across numerous growing regions. We have strong long-term partnerships with numerous vegetable growers across Australia, and we work closely with them when it comes to transparency on costs. Our price for zucchinis last week was around 38 per cent cheaper than last year due to availability in the market.”.

The Nationals (leader David Littleproud above) have ramped up calls for the consumer watchdog to launch an inquiry into supermarkets due to price gouging. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

Supermarket giants record $1 billion profit, face inquiry

Coles and Woolworths both recorded profits of more than $1 billion last year, while morale among fruit and vegetable growers is at an all time low, with 30 per cent of them considering leaving the industry this year.

Nationals Leader David Littleproud wants the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission to launch an inquiry into fruit and vegetables – arguing that supermarkets are making record profits off the back of hard-done-by farmers.

Mr Littleproud said the Senate inquiry into supermarket prices – which was greenlit last month – wouldn’t go far enough.

“I previously called for an ACCC Inquiry into beef and lamb but it must also now investigate fruit and vegetables – we need to investigate the price disparity, compel CEOs to give evidence and have greater penalties for those who do the wrong thing, including not paying farmers a fair price,” he said.

Agriculture Minister Murray Watt he’d been calling on supermarkets “for months” not to profiteer.

“It’s good to see the Nationals now adding their voice to the chorus. If they had done something about it while they were in government for 10 years, we would all be better off now,” Senator Watt said.

“We’ll continue applying pressure to the big supermarkets through a senate inquiry this year.”

In addition to the senate inquiry into supermarket prices, the government has also launched a review into the Food and Grocery Code, which focuses on increasing transparency around how much suppliers are being paid.

-with Frank Chung

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Originally published as Fed-up farmer’s message reiterates call for major supermarkets to drastically lower prices