Trader defends reselling Lidl stock

A trader in Cork’s famous English Market has defended his practice of buying vegetables in German discount stores and selling them from his stall at a marked-up price.

Michael Herlihy, who has run The Farmer stall for almost 30 years, told the Irish Examiner last night he has never tried to hide the fact that some of the products on his shelves have been bought in a supermarket.

“I leave those products in their original packaging to ensure full traceability of the products — so people know where they came from,” said Mr Herlihy.

He said the practice emerged because some city-based restaurateurs want to buy particular products — he mentioned baby potatoes of uniform size — from his stall which he said he cannot source from the four major wholesalers he deals with.

The reselling was revealed yesterday on The Opinion Line with PJ Coogan on 96FM.

Take a guess where these Lidl potatoes are for sale in Cork? Not Lidl... 1850 715 996 pic.twitter.com/BlieNpqeCE

— 96fm Opinion Line (@OpinionLine96) September 2, 2014

Afer a listener’s call, show editor Deirdre O’Shaughnessy found spinach, kale, and baby potatoes on sale at Mr Herlihy’s stall on Monday. All were in packaging marked ‘packaged for Lidl’. The potatoes were on sale at his stall that day for €1. The same item had been on sale in Lidl for as little as 49c.

A spokesman for the market’s trader’s association said the practices exposed at this stall are “no reflection” on the other traders.

“Most traders source and select the local fresh food products they sell very, very carefully,” he said.

“And if one person takes it upon themselves to do this, it is not a reflection on any other traders.”