Consumers are “not overpaying” for food now but have been “underpaying for decades”, according to one farm organisation which has claimed that the current debate around food inflation is dishonest.
The Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers’ Association (ICMSA) is now calling for a real debate around the relationship between food production, food prices and the role of farmers.
According to Pat McCormack, president of the ICMSA, there are also key issues to be addressed about the pressures farmers are currently under in relation to environmental targets while also managing input costs like fertiliser prices.
Last week the Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment hosted a special meeting of the Retail Forum to discuss food price inflation in Ireland.
Minister Neale Richmond said he had been given assurances by retailers that they would reduce prices “where reductions in input costs filter through to products”.
Food prices
He also “welcomed” price cuts introduced by some retailers on butter, milk, and bread.
McCormack has highlighted that politicians are suddenly demanding “accountability and transparency on margins” from retailers after ignoring calls for a “proper investigation of retailer margin for years” from the likes of the ICMSA.
He also highlighted that recent figures from the Central Statistics Office suggest that the “proportion of total household expenditure on food” has halved in Ireland, and that people are spending less in 2023 than their parents spent 40 years ago.
“It’s time for someone to point out to both consumers and politicians alike that they can’t have this both ways.
“They can’t have food at the kind of prices that they have become used to paying, while demanding that the farmers take land out of production and lower livestock numbers,” McCormack warned.
“Something has got to give here and honestly – while it is merited and long overdue – the kind of outrage being directed at the supermarkets is not going to get us or anybody closer to the real answers around how we are going to square this circle.”
He said that politicians and policymakers need to show “some of the courage” that they are urging others to have.
McCormack has also warned that consumers need to know that “saving the planet is going to cost everyone something”.
According to the ICMSA president consumers cannot expect to see changes “from the supermarket fridge backwards to the farm” with no consequences.