How to stop the give away veg.

[glasshouse]

I'm told the broccoli head sizes are quite small, so say 250 to 300g.

The correct price for broccoli this week is £14 for 6kg

So a 330g head should be about 80p, Tesco will be paying about that. They are out bidding others in European countries to secure supplies to give away. Broccoli is almost always Spanish at this time of the year.

I'm trying to put this in farming terms.

Its a bit like a sheep dealer going to Ireland paying 180 euros for lambs, then parking up outside Carlilse auction market & offering them to butchers at £20 each.

Thats what tesco did with nz lambbefore covid

 

[renewablejohn]

We don't though do we. Same reason as we don't fix our own teeth or make our own clothes. Specialism is what got us out of the caves.

Well some of us do and there is nothing special about growing your own food apart from the taste is far better fresh picked and cooked.

 

[kiwi pom]

No
and
No.

Prices are loss leaders, not connected to level of supply.

Contracts don't have to necessarily be bad, they just know you can't afford to enforce any contract.

If supermarkets can afford to almost give veg away then there is plenty of veg in the country, they'd like nothing more than to declare a shortage and ramp prices up.
There's no doubt that they are ruthless, and something should be done to ensure contracts are fair for farmers when they sell to a processor or supermarket but some of the blame has to fall on producers too for agreeing to these terms in the first place.
Thats the trouble with contracts, there's always someone who will do it cheaper and stab everyone in the back to get their foot in the door.

 

[jondear]

Thats what tesco did with nz lambbefore covid

I see in most supermarkets only NZ lamb is available.Disgrace!

 

[solo]

I see in most supermarkets only NZ lamb is available.Disgrace!

Leg of NZ lamb in Sainsbury’s last week was reduced to £20 and then half price sticker on it. Wife bought it and put it in the freezer. £10 fed 6 of us.

 

[Pennine Ploughing]

Its a bit like a sheep dealer going to Ireland paying 180 euros for lambs, then parking up outside Carlilse auction market & offering them to butchers at £20 each.

I get your drift, but the sheep dealer don't sell a multitude of other goods, and need the foot fall though the doors, to empty the pockets of customers with buying and spending elsewhere in the shop on goods with a higher mark up over cost of inputs

So a 330g head should be about 80p, Tesco will be paying about that.

So they are paying the market rate then, what as a producer are you complaining about,
Tesco are not the only ones at this, the other big supermarkets are at it aswell, it's only a 1 off, as next week it will be back to full price,
Office of national statistics has said public spending is down in general on previous years, so it's a way to get foot fall through the doors, to increase spending,

 

[nonemouse]

They say they are helping the customers through the cost of living crisis, but all they are doing is squeezing out small retailers and enticing customers to buy more of the over processed, over priced shite.
Do similar with liquid milk, apparently the supermarket price of a 4 pint bottle of milk is the same as it was in 2010.

 

[Derrick Hughes]

Everyone on here should be signed up to a weekly veg box delivery. Fair return for the grower, next to no packaging. I can't think of a conceivable reason for anyone connected to farming not to. (save the small minority who will genuinely be growing their weekly needs).

The joy of buying food is choosing it , not having it sent , just a shame all the small veg shops have gone , although we do have a small organic farm shop I go to

 

[Devil's advocate]

I get your drift, but the sheep dealer don't sell a multitude of other goods, and need the foot fall though the doors, to empty the pockets of customers with buying and spending elsewhere in the shop on goods with a higher mark up over cost of inputs


So they are paying the market rate then, what as a producer are you complaining about,
Tesco are not the only ones at this, the other big supermarkets are at it aswell, it's only a 1 off, as next week it will be back to full price,
Office of national statistics has said public spending is down in general on previous years, so it's a way to get foot fall through the doors, to increase spending,

I'm not complaining as a grower, I'm having a superb year & nearing retirement.

I'm complaining about the damage to independent suppliers of veg, Farm shops, wholesalers, market stalls, food service etc.

 

[kiwi pom]

The joy of buying food is choosing it , not having it sent , just a shame all the small veg shops have gone , although we do have a small organic farm shop I go to

If customers all wanted those small veg shops they'd still be there.
The reality is one stop, free parking everything under one roof as cheap as possible is what the vast majority want.
There is a percentage with disposable income who enjoy spending it on food and visiting different shops, but I'd say they are a minority.

 

[kiwi pom]

I see in most supermarkets only NZ lamb is available.Disgrace!

Lamb is one thing I almost never buy, can't see the value in it to be honest.
Might get a leg for Christmas but that's about it, I think we end up with the stuff that can't be exported sometimes

 

[David.]

We are currently eating washed stockfeed potatoes, good parsnips at £6.99 net, onions at £3.50 net, carrots and beetroot are similar money; all from TFM. If I could find a source of nets of Brussels at £12/14, I'd buy them, but I can't, so I shall buy as many as Aldi will let us have and enjoy them.
We sell everything wholesale, I see nothing wrong with sourcing wholesale where possible.
And it is the Town Councils who have helped kill most market towns, by making it near impossible to park with pedestrianised centres, then subbing the remaining parking out to sharks. Consequently there is nothing in town but nail bars, lairy Turkish looking coffee shops, eyebrow flossing stands, charity shops and Piazzas with expensive hanging baskets.

 

[Andrew_Ni]

If any grower is selling potatoes at 75p per 25kg sack ie £30 per ton he is part of the problem

They’re worth more in an AD plant at that price.

 

[Devil's advocate]

If customers all wanted those small veg shops they'd still be there.
The reality is one stop, free parking everything under one roof as cheap as possible is what the vast majority want.
There is a percentage with disposable income who enjoy spending it on food and visiting different shops, but I'd say they are a minority.

They still are there in town centre markets but get this kicking every Christmas. A double whammy of sky high prices & been forced to compete with those giving it away.

Some of them are popular with ethnic minorities others do well in the April to November period.

 

[Devil's advocate]

Thats what tesco did with nz lambbefore covid

Not really, Tesco bought a small amount of lamb & sold it cheaper to drop the market about 20%. Wrong I agree.

Its not like buying every kilo in Europe they could at record prices & selling it at 10% of the market price

 

[delilah]

t's a hard no from me on the organic stuff but a decent, reliable service would be a good thing round here too.
My only question is are these businesses growing all their own produce locally or just using a wholesaler and breaking them down to individual orders?

The farm we get ours from is hard core. Soil Association growers, absolutely honest about the provenance, anything in the box that they have bought in they provide the name and details of the farm.

At the other end of the spectrum there will be box schemes that don't grow a thing, but do source according to a set of self imposed guidelines; 'its all SA', or 'its all from within 30 miles'.

 

[Derrick Hughes]

I'm not complaining as a grower, I'm having a superb year & nearing retirement.

I'm complaining about the damage to independent suppliers of veg, Farm shops, wholesalers, market stalls, food service etc.

It's a bit late to be a complaining now , how many small greengrocers are left , I bought some salad from a small shop this week , was an eye opener to see how fresh it was compared to a Supermarket

 

[glasshouse]

Not really, Tesco bought a small amount of lamb & sold it cheaper to drop the market about 20%. Wrong I agree.

Its not like buying every kilo in Europe they could at record prices & selling it at 10% of the market price

They are just hoors

 

[Devil's advocate]

It's a bit late to be a complaining now , how many small greengrocers are left , I bought some salad from a small shop this week , was an eye opener to see how fresh it was compared to a Supermarket

Mostly the ones that have survied are very good indeed.

Super markets used to be very good on qualty control, rubbish at it now.

 

[JockCroft]

Haven't seen theses offers. Must take a look tommorow.

What I have read in the last 24 hours on newsfeed is that Morrisons are trying to be selling and leasing back their store due to financial pressures, and that ASDA are struggling to service their very substantial borrowings.
Both IIRC bought over in the last two years.

What is their management aims? Is it asset stripping? Were they unprepared for increased interest rates?

Was also an article that Morrisons have stopped staff overtime.

Is the retail bubble heading for a bust?