SuperValu has agreed to put financial supports in place for a number of their existing growers of vegetable crops.
Its decision comes in light of the negative impacts felt by the rural community as a result of the recent heatwave.
The supermarket chain has said it will be supporting growers of: broccoli; cabbages; cauliflower; celery; lettuce; kale; parsnips; leeks; carrots; scallions; and swedes.
A spokesperson for SuperValu has said the company makes a point of sourcing as much of their produce as possible from Irish suppliers – whenever possible – and claims the business supports over 1,800 Irish companies.
Commenting on the announcement, managing director Martin Kelleher said: “SuperValu is very mindful of the enormous impact the recent heatwave has had on the Irish farming community and its threat to supply of Irish vegetables for consumers.
Following discussions with the Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA), we have agreed to step in and put financial supports in place for our growers of key crops – which will help to offset the toll on the Irish farming community.
SuperValu reportedly serves over 2.7 million customers every week and has 217 stores nationwide. Together with its retail partners, SuperValu employs approximately 14,500 colleagues – making it one of the Ireland’s largest private-sector employers.
Today’s announcement by SuperValu was welcomed by both the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Marine, Michael Creed, and the Minister of State, Andrew Doyle.
Commenting on the news, Minister Doyle said: “I strongly welcome this initiative by SuperValu to support Irish growers, and would encourage other retailers to follow this example.
Irish consumers can also play their part, by buying and eating more vegetables carrying the Bord Bia Quality Mark, as part of a balanced healthy diet.
Meanwhile, Minister Creed also announced that Bord Bia will roll out business mentoring and ‘lean’ business learning to businesses in the horticulture sector.
“I have asked Bord Bia to support the vegetable sector through the provision of a new, bespoke programme of business mentoring for impacted businesses.
“In addition, I anticipate that Bord Bia will also expand and make available its Lean Programme – which has recently been successfully piloted in the horticulture industry,” he concluded.