Farmers feel the squeeze from supermarket deals | Environment | The Guardian

Farmers feel the squeeze from supermarket deals | Environment | The Guardian: "A recent report by market analysts Begbies Traynor said the search by supermarkets for ever cheaper food was having a devastating effect on farmers and food-and-drink producers. It showed that the number of small and medium-sized businesses supplying supermarkets and in “significant” distress has doubled in a year from 728 to 1,414. “UK suppliers could find themselves squeezed even further, if not stamped out altogether,” it concluded.

It all rings horribly true for Steve, whose family farm has been growing lettuce, courgettes and tomatoes in Worcestershire’s Vale of Evesham for more than 25 years.

“At some point we’re going to be forced to retire because of the prices,” he says. “The government is going to lose all its salad producers. It’s a shame to lose a tradition. Evesham used to be full of market gardeners. It’s empty now; there’s nothing left. There are six to eight growers that are quite big and a few small ones, but they won’t last long.

“Any farmer who says it’s good is lying. People are scared. The supermarkets say, ‘You can’t match the price? Sorry, we’re going elsewhere.’ I was making more money per kilo of lettuce 20 years ago. A box of courgettes went for £4 to £5.20 years ago; now it’s £1.80 to £2. At the same time, labour costs have gone from £2.80 an hour to £6.70. We’ve been forced to stop growing leeks and onionsbecause of the price.”"



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