‘Wasteful’ supermarkets putting British farmers on the brink

Farmers are being forced to leave food “rotting in the field” because they can’t get a fair deal from supermarkets, a group of celebrity chefs including Rick Stein and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall has warned.

In an open letter, farmers, food producers and celebrities accuse Britain’s biggest supermarkets of “imbalanced, short term and wasteful” practices that have left British farmers scrambling to stay afloat.

The letter, addressed to the bosses of Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda, Morrisons, Aldi and Lidl, has over 100 signatures and also includes the backing of Julia Bradbury and Ray Mears.

It reads: “The Big Six’s buying practices are all too often imbalanced, short term and wasteful. Farmers are denied commitment or security – with whole crops rejected at the last minute in favour of cheaper options elsewhere, or just because supermarkets change their mind.

“Good food ends up rotting in the field. Farmers are left without payment for their crops. And without a stable, reliable income, they are struggling to survive.”

Farmers have faced steep rises in the cost of everything from fertiliser to wages and the energy used in production since the pandemic.

Many farmers have left the sector altogether due to financial pressures. According to the National Farmers Union, 5pc of dairy farmers left the industry in 2022.

Mr Mears, the nature presenter and conservationist, said: “British farming is the backbone of our rural communities, and it’s devastating to hear that agricultural workers are struggling at the hands of supermarkets and their suppliers.

“British farmers play a key part in maintaining our natural ecosystems, such as hedgerows, and protecting our environment. Farmers have enough to contend with amid issues like the growing climate change crisis – it’s not right for supermarkets’ behaviour to then be piling on additional pressure.”

Sainsbury’s said earlier in September it would invest £6m into paying farmers a higher price, having paid over £66m in support to farmers over the last year. Lidl, meanwhile, said last week it would spend an extra £40m on investing in its egg suppliers.

Supermarkets faced shortages over fruit and vegetables earlier in the year which were blamed on bad weather in regions such as Spain and Morocco, where much of the UK’s produce is imported from – sparking calls for the UK to become more self-sufficient.

Guy Singh-Watson, founder of Riverford Organic, said fairer conditions for farmers would not necessarily lead to higher prices on the shelves.

He added: “I don’t think food needs to be expensive. A bigger proportion of the price needs to go back to the farmer instead of processors and supermarkets.”

It comes amid accusations that supermarkets have been profiteering during the cost of living crisis.

In July, the Competition & Markets Authority (CMA) said it would investigate big brand-owners such as Heinz and Unilever to examine if shoppers were getting a raw deal at the tills.

The new phase came as the CMA said its initial investigation found no evidence of profiteering by supermarkets, despite concerns about so-called “greedflation”.

At the time, the regulator said it would “look in further detail at metrics of financial performance of branded and own-label suppliers as part of the next phase of our groceries work”.

Andrew Opie of the British Retail Consortium, which represents supermarkets, said: “Food retailers source, and will continue to source, the vast majority of their food from the UK, and work hard to pay a sustainable price to farmers. Retailers value their relationships with British farmers and are supporting them by paying more for their produce.

“However, retailers are also facing many additional costs and the recent CMA report shows that they are working hard to absorb these in order to limit price increases for their customers. As a result, operating profit margins have fallen to less than 2p in every pound of sales.”