- Location
- Near Beeston Castle
For once I have to disagree with you. Those small number of very big producers have no alternative market, they either have to comply or go out of business. UK supermarkets are quite willing to pay more to foreign suppliers than bow to UK producers over price as they have recently with eggs and salad.Thats nonsense. If the Supermarket cartel (as you term it) drives thousands of small producers out of business then the supermarkets then face dealing with a small number of producers, who will have much more market power. The weakness of farming is precisely that there's tens of thousands of us. And we don't (or indeed can't by law) stand together. No one farmer can affect the supply into the market by refusing to accept what the processors offer. But when one producer controls (say) 20% of the market then if they say 'We're not accepting your price and are withholding our produce' then that does affect the market price. And gives them leverage, that we all lack as small producers.
The last thing the supermarkets want is a few producers with more pricing power. And driving all the small producers out of the market will create exactly that.
I don't think the problems Delilah is referring to is something that is coming, it is already here and has been for some time. It will be interesting to see where things end up but there is going to be a food shortage in this country if there isn't already. A long cold spring and we are buggered.