Should the ACCC be called in for food price inquiry?

The nation’s consumer watchdog could lead the review of the Food and Grocery Code of Conduct and if it should be made mandatory.

A further inquiry into food and grocery prices is on the table as discussions between the Treasurer and the peak consumer watchdog are ongoing, amid calls for greater transparency of the food supply chain.

The supermarket duopoly of Woolworths and Coles have come under fire in recent months, with many producers railing against the price difference between the farmgate and the checkout.

It is understood discussions between Treasurer Jim Chalmers and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission continue over the possibility of an ACCC-led review.

The federal government last week announced former Labor minister Craig Emerson is chairing a statutory review of the Food and Grocery Code of Conduct, which will assess the code provisions and whether the code should be made mandatory.

There is also a Senate inquiry into supermarket pricing underway.

Nationals leader and the opposition’s agriculture spokesman David Littleproud has argued an ACCC inquiry would have greater power to compel supermarket chief executives to give evidence.

“We needed an investigation, an investigation into prices at the checkout, particularly for meat, which fell by 60 to 70 per cent in June yet only fell by about 8 per cent at the checkout,” Mr Littleproud told Sky News.

Leader of the National Party David Littleproud has renewed calls for a consumer watched inquiry into the price of fruit and vegetables at the supermarket. Picture: Supplied

“And you look at fresh produce, you’re paying $2.20 for a zucchini to the farmer, but $6.50 at the checkout. They’re cleaning up and they’re cleaning up at the consumer’s expense.”

A recent Tradingpedia report found Woolworths was the largest company in Australia worth more than $16 billion, having increased its value more than 7 per cent from last year.

NSW Farmers has joined Mr Littleproud in calls for an ACCC inquiry, with NSW Farmers president Xavier Martin saying farmers were still receiving “dysfunctional prices for their produce”.

“It has become increasingly clear that margins are not being passed through the supply chain in a fair and equitable manner, and it is farmers and families who are footing the bill,” Mr Martin said.

“Farmers are being offered increasingly lower prices that often don’t cover their cost of production, with little justification and a ‘take it or leave it’ attitude from supermarkets.”

A recent Rabobank report showed while prices for food and beverages lifted 4.6 per cent annually in the 12 months to November 2023, prices for food and beverages were down on the 5.3 per cent rate of annual inflation in October 2023, and below the peak of annual food price inflation of almost 10 per cent in September 2022.

National Farmers’ Federation president David Jochinke said whether the ACCC conducted a review or the parliament, a review is “only as good as the outcomes it achieves”.

“The ACCC did a review into grocery prices not long ago … we’d welcome either or both, because if there’s nothing to hide, and no issues with the supermarkets, then there’s something happening along the supply chain,” Mr Jochinke said.