Tesco’s assertion that the price paid by customers in its shops is unrelated to the price paid to farmers has been met by amazement from Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers Association (ICSA) president Edmond Phelan.

In response to an Irish Farmers Association (IFA) protest at its distribution centre in Donabate, Tesco said: “All Tesco own-label fresh beef is sourced through processors, who agree prices directly with farmers. The price customers pay for beef products in our stores is not related to the price farmers receive from the processors.”

Phelan said Tesco and other retailers could not “wash their hands of the issue of farmers being forced to work for less than the cost of production”.

Promotions

Tesco also said it paid for any price promotions it ran.

Phelan said ICSA figures obtained from slaughtering two heifers suggested retailers and processors shared a mark-up before costs of some €1,500 on an animal bought for little over €1,200.

“For many years, retailers have supported fair trade coffee, but it is shocking that they don’t give a damn about primary producers of beef on their own doorstep.

“The relentless focus on driving down price is part of the problem, but it is also the insistence that farmers are entitled to less than half the retail price after a process of breeding and feeding that takes three years,” Phelan said.

“Then within three weeks, the processors carve up the majority of the value of the animal for themselves.”

Responsibilities

He said it was not acceptable for retailers to dodge their responsibilities: “[The] ICSA believes that the low prices in 2019 are a reflection of aggressive procurement policies by both retailers and processors which are pushing farmers to the brink of bankruptcy and many farmers in meat production are in a state of despair.”

Pointing to Tesco’s position as the third-biggest supermarket chain in the world with global profits of €2.5bn, Phelan said Tesco could not argue it needed to squeeze “ever more money out of farmers”.

He said it was time beef moved above €4/kg. Phelan added that supermarkets selling beef at current farm-gate prices were exploiting, not supporting, farmers.

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