How to stop the give away veg.

[kiwi pom]

Very true.

One example was caulie at my local Tesco.

The correct price for Caulie this week is £2.50 to £3.50 per head without frost damage.

Tesco had 6 half rotten tiny caulies 95p each to match Aldi, that was on an almost empty shelf.

Is it possible that Tesco bought those cauli a while ago but couldn't sell them so once they had gone past their best, they mark them down?
Or did the supplier have too many harvested (even if they weren't ready) all at once so sold the rejects cheap to move them?
I don't know what everyone else does but when I'm in the supermarket my priority is to feed my family well BUT as cheaply as I can.
Maybe if they are at the 'correct price' no one buys them?

 

[Jackov Altraids]

Local wholesaler went with 30 staff & cleared all the shelves. But they were banned from entering 3 supermarkets ever again. They should have been a bit more sneaky they went in their uniforms.

Can they legally ban someone who hasn't done anything wrong?

 

[Devil's advocate]

I agree, but you can’t police that without establishing a COP as a reference figure.

I don't really see selling below cost of production as a problem, potato growers do that 50% of the time.

Its this buying everything up when it is scarce & then selling at a low percentage of its value as little as 10% of its true market price.

The other crazy thing is in times of glut, they often put the prices quite high, killing demand.

We need market forces to work.

 

[neilo]

It'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?
Think cauliflower got up to $9 each not long ago, and broccoli $3 for a small head (halve it for pounds). Tomatoes are too dear unless in season so don't buy them, much of the veg I buy is frozen these days to be honest.
I'm a townie but do have a veg patch of my own for some stuff.

Reminds me of the fella back home who, having dispersed his organic dairy herd (so a ‘genuine’ organic farm), went into growing and retailing organic veg boxes. Not on a big scale, as he only had a bit of ground down to veg.
All was going very well and growing the business well, until word got out that he’d been seen stocking up in the wholesale market.

The organic veg box business dwindled quite quickly after that.

 

[Devil's advocate]

Can they legally ban someone who hasn't done anything wrong?

I know they did it was last spring. One wholesaler (food service supplier) & two retailers did the same all banned from stores. How they can enforce that, I don't know.

I think with these offers, supermarkets can set conditions, like only two per customer.

 

[Devil's advocate]

Is it possible that Tesco bought those cauli a while ago but couldn't sell them so once they had gone past their best, they mark them down?
Or did the supplier have too many harvested (even if they weren't ready) all at once so sold the rejects cheap to move them?
I don't know what everyone else does but when I'm in the supermarket my priority is to feed my family well BUT as cheaply as I can.
Maybe if they are at the 'correct price' no one buys them?

Price match with Aldi. so trying not to loose more than they have to.

 

[Bongodog]

When were you last in a Tesco store? There’s already heaps of empty space, far fewer fresh fruit and veg lines than before. Shortages are being disguised by wider aisles, single stacked boxes etc. right across the store.

Just been to our nearest Tesco store, shelves are literally groaning under the weight of fruit and veg, no significant shortages (apart from icing for the Christmas cake) for many months.

 

[Highland Mule]

Just been to our nearest Tesco store, shelves are literally groaning under the weight of fruit and veg, no significant shortages (apart from icing for the Christmas cake) for many months.

Complete opposite here. Large swathes of one fruit, lots the same and obviously stretched out to look full when they’re not.

 

[Devil's advocate]

Just been to our nearest Tesco store, shelves are literally groaning under the weight of fruit and veg, no significant shortages (apart from icing for the Christmas cake) for many months.

Most items are at record prices in the wholesale veg chains.

Its the small retailers who are having the hardest time.

 

[Anymulewilldo]

Is it France that has it set in law that produce can’t be sold below COP?

No doubt farmers over here would complain that the govt had compiled information on their COP to be able to enforce it though.

True, because in the past they’ve only used that information to beat us down with. once bitten twice shy and all that. I’ve lost count of all the times we’ve been bitten now so I don’t know where that leaves us

 

[Jackov Altraids]

Is it France that has it set in law that produce can’t be sold below COP?

No doubt farmers over here would complain that the govt had compiled information on their COP to be able to enforce it though.

Given we are legally obliged to supply are inventories, and with the information provided by the Farm Business Survey, they already know.

It is amazing how a Cunservative Party full of free-marketeers and supermarkets really don't like free markets.

 

[Devil's advocate]

Reminds me of the fella back home who, having dispersed his organic dairy herd (so a ‘genuine’ organic farm), went into growing and retailing organic veg boxes. Not on a big scale, as he only had a bit of ground down to veg.
All was going very well and growing the business well, until word got out that he’d been seen stocking up in the wholesale market.

The organic veg box business dwindled quite quickly after that.

I know of a similar case. Plus a free range egg supplier, buying wholesale eggs. The latter quickly failed.

 

[case44]

Carrots,Swedes and Parsnips 19p in Sainsbury’s this evening with a Nectar Card,White Potatoes a large pack …..15p!
By coincidence I saw this picture earlier.

 

[Anymulewilldo]

For the the supplier contracts are the issue with the supermarkets.
“you will supply us with xxx tonnes of (carrots/spuds/etc) at £xxx/t. You must supply this tonnage or face penalties. But if you get to harvest and we’ve got plenty of product we are in no way obligated to take your produce and can leave you high and dry with no penalties incurred even though you’ve grown them “under contract””
I’ve told the story many times of my mate 3 years ago who grew 50 acre of carrots on contract, got to harvest and was told “oh we don’t need them at the moment” he rang every week through the winter and every week was told the same thing. He started lifting the crop in February and was selling them straight off the harvester as stockfeed. He kept me and a few others going right into mid May with them then still had to mascerate 18 acres back in. Funnily enough he now won’t touch grower contracts

 

[kiwi pom]

Reminds me of the fella back home who, having dispersed his organic dairy herd (so a ‘genuine’ organic farm), went into growing and retailing organic veg boxes. Not on a big scale, as he only had a bit of ground down to veg.
All was going very well and growing the business well, until word got out that he’d been seen stocking up in the wholesale market.

The organic veg box business dwindled quite quickly after that.

Quite a bit of that goes on I think.
To be clear I don't have a problem with it, they just become another shop at that point and that's fine BUT if they are tricking people into thinking everything was grown on site by themselves, that's naughty.

 

[kiwi pom]

Carrots,Swedes and Parsnips 19p in Sainsbury’s this evening with a Nectar Card,White Potatoes a large pack …..15p!
By coincidence I saw this picture earlier.
View attachment 1154163

Must be a huge oversupply for the prices to be that low?

For the the supplier contracts are the issue with the supermarkets.
“you will supply us with xxx tonnes of (carrots/spuds/etc) at £xxx/t. You must supply this tonnage or face penalties. But if you get to harvest and we’ve got plenty of product we are in no way obligated to take your produce and can leave you high and dry with no penalties incurred even though you’ve grown them “under contract””
I’ve told the story many times of my mate 3 years ago who grew 50 acre of carrots on contract, got to harvest and was told “oh we don’t need them at the moment” he rang every week through the winter and every week was told the same thing. He started lifting the crop in February and was selling them straight off the harvester as stockfeed. He kept me and a few others going right into mid May with them then still had to mascerate 18 acres back in. Funnily enough he now won’t touch grower contracts

The issue there is he signed a bad contract. It doesn't have to be that way, fair contracts do exist, more needs to be done to ensure they are all fair though.

 

[Jackov Altraids]

For the the supplier contracts are the issue with the supermarkets.
“you will supply us with xxx tonnes of (carrots/spuds/etc) at £xxx/t. You must supply this tonnage or face penalties. But if you get to harvest and we’ve got plenty of product we are in no way obligated to take your produce and can leave you high and dry with no penalties incurred even though you’ve grown them “under contract””
I’ve told the story many times of my mate 3 years ago who grew 50 acre of carrots on contract, got to harvest and was told “oh we don’t need them at the moment” he rang every week through the winter and every week was told the same thing. He started lifting the crop in February and was selling them straight off the harvester as stockfeed. He kept me and a few others going right into mid May with them then still had to mascerate 18 acres back in. Funnily enough he now won’t touch grower contracts

And I guess that helps them tell WWF that all the food waste is happening on farms. . . . . . . .

 

[Jackov Altraids]

Must be a huge oversupply for the prices to be that low?

The issue there is he signed a bad contract. It doesn't have to be that way, fair contracts do exist, more needs to be done to ensure they are all fair though.

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.

 

[jondear]

Mrs came back and said that veg is 19 p in Tesco !Wtf !
edit It was Sainsbury.

 

[Macsky]

Clear the shelves then sell it back to them

At a premium since it’s already graded and packaged