Do farmers lose on veg sold in supermarkets for as little as 8p this festive season?

Tesco has recently cut the price of its vegetables from £0.60-£0.80 to £0.15. The retailer said that it is investing millions of pounds to offer customers major savings on the most important vegetables for the Christmas dinner plate.

Tesco also confirmed that all of its onions, potatoes, carrots, brussels sprouts, parsnips and cabbage this Christmas are British, as well as 100% of the supermarket’s Finest turkeys, Finest beef, Finest lamb, Finest pork and Finest gammon.

All of Tesco’s fresh sausages, pigs in blankets and stuffings are made with 100% British meat too, the retailer added.

Aldi has gone a step further, offering its customers vegetable staples for less than £0.10.

Its shoppers are now able to pick up carrots (1kg), parsnips (500g), brussels sprouts (500g), white potatoes (2kg), red and white cabbages and broccoli for just 8p.

British food security

While announcing the special offer, Tesco confirmed that it does not affect the price that the retailer pays to its farmers and growers.

A spokesperson for Tesco said: “While the price for Clubcard customers is the same as last Christmas, the prices paid by Tesco to its farmers for each of the seven vegetables have increased this year, recognising the cost pressures they are facing.”

NFU president Tom Bradshaw explained that although promotional activity can help drive sales, it is important that retailers take responsibility for their decisions to massively discount products and ensure it does not have long-term impacts on the public’s perception of true market value and production costs.

“As an industry we need to drive investment to deliver for future food security and the British people who truly value high-quality, homegrown food.

“A crucial part of that is a fair and transparent market, where farmers and growers can get fair returns for the risk and capital invested,” Mr Bradshaw added.

NFU said that British fruit and vegetable producers are already under the cosh from workforce availability, employment costs and extreme weather impacts – now compounded by National Insurance and National Living Wage increases announced in the Budget.

While promotional activity can have some positive impacts for growers to help drive sales volumes and attract new shoppers, growers have long held concerns about the impact heavy discounting can have on consumer expectations about the real value of British produce.

Fundamentally, this pricing strategy should not be funded by unsustainable farmgate prices, the union concluded.

Read more farm business news.