Supermarkets have been criticised for using vegetables as the latest weapon in their burgeoning price war, charging as little as 8p for a 2kg bag of potatoes in an attempt to lure shoppers over Easter.
Growers said they feared the massive discounts, which are also deployed at Christmas, could permanently devalue their produce.
Asda and Aldi are charging 8p for a 2kg bag of potatoes and Tesco and Sainsbury’s are charging 15p for loyalty card holders, compared with normal prices of about £1.35 or as much as £2.50 for branded Albert Bartlett spuds. Bags of carrots, broccoli and other vegetables and fruit including courgettes are also included in the promotions.
The president of the National Farmers’ Union, Tom Bradshaw, said: “While promotional activity can help driving sales, it’s important that retailers take responsibility for their decisions to massively discount products and ensure it doesn’t have long term impacts on the public’s perception of true market value and production costs.
“As an industry we need to drive investment to deliver for future food security and the British people who truly value high quality, homegrown food. A crucial part of that is a fair and transparent market, where farmers and growers can get fair returns for the risk and capital invested.”
Scott Walker, the head of trade body GB Potato, said: “There is a concern that these prices does not in any way reflect the cost of production and if that puts the sense in consumers mind how much it costs to produce these foods that’s a concern for the future.”
Supermarkets say they bear the cost of the discounts and the prices do not affect the amount paid to suppliers and farmers, adding that discounting can entice more shoppers to try fresh vegetables.
Andrew Opie, the director of food and sustainability at the British Retail Consortium, a trade body that represents all the big supermarkets, said: “Vegetables are a vital part of a balanced diet, and by providing discounts where they can, retailers are supporting healthy eating for all households. Retailers understand the importance of a strong supply chain and the need to offer farmers a fair price, while still offering great value for customers.”
However, Dale Robinson, the head of procurement at Riverford Organic Farmers, which charges £18 each for its fruit and veg boxes including delivery, said heavy discounting undermined the true cost of food production as planting, growing, harvesting and transporting fresh produce could not be done sustainably at such low prices.
“While these deals might seem like a win for shoppers, they create unrealistic expectations about food costs and leave farmers struggling to cover even their most basic expenses.,” he said.
The worries emerged as the vegetable industry wrestles with heavier costs including higher wages and employer national insurance contributions, as well new barriers to the import of vital supplies, such as young plants and seeds, as a result of Brexit.
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The sunny and warm start to the year has been good for planting out crops, but Walker said growers in some parts of the country had already been warned there was insufficient water for them to draw water for irrigation this year and so they would have to be reliant on rainfall.
“It’s been fantastic but that is just the start,” he said. “We have just got to hope the British weather plays ball.”
The amount of land given over to growing potatoes in Great Britain has decreased by 20,000 hectares (49,421 acres) to about 100,000 in the past five years as the cost of machinery and other requirements to manage the root crop have risen amid less certainty over harvests because of increasingly unreliable weather driven by the climate crisis.
“There is a pretty poor risk and reward situation,” Walker said.
