I would say that the supermarkets are pretty happy with themselves at the present time – living the dream indeed.
The last 12 months have seen Irish farm commodity prices nose diving while, at the same time, food inflation has never been a stronger factor within the Irish and European Union economies.
I am not an economist, but it doesn’t take Albert Einstein to work out whose making all the money right now. That’s right, it’s the supermarkets.
Earlier this year, our politicians kept telling us that the office of the new food regulator would make all the difference when it came to bringing the food retailers to task.
And similar words have been mouthed by representatives of the European Commission – and their so-called political allies – for years. It hasn’t made one iota of difference.
The supermarkets’ boards of directors must be having a good laugh at farmers and our political legislators.
Producers vs supermarkets
The total imbalance that now exists between farmgate returns and the price of the food can best be described in the following words – shocking and disgraceful.
Back in the day, our farming organisations would have taken to the streets at the first signs of any ‘fancy footwork’ on the part of the supermarkets. But no so today, so why not?
As pointed out so many times in the past, a stranger from Mars could click on the internet and, within minutes, work out with absolute precision the cost of producing a litre of milk or 1kg of beef in Ireland.
But try getting a real hold on the way the supermarkets go about their business, it doesn’t seem possible.
Their costs are shrouded in mystery. And, again, it doesn’t take Albert Einstein to work out why this should be the case.
Budget 2024
The coming weeks will see our politicians return to Leinster House. No doubt all the focus of attention will be on Budget 2024.
And, of course, this is important. But from a farming and food industry perspective, I would suggest that the business practices of food retailers now constitute a very real and obvious threat to the long-term sustainability of Irish agriculture.
And, as such, the government should act accordingly.
In practical terms, this requires the immediate establishment of a public and independent inquiry into the business operations of all the Irish supermarkets.
Its sole aim should be to drill down into the costing associated with the procurement and sale of all the foods sold on Irish shop shelves.
The purpose of this exercise would be to come up with a formula that delivers a fair margin right along the food chain.
Working with the inquiry should be made mandatory on the part of the retailers. And, of course, the outworking an inquiry would send shockwaves across the EU food retail sector.