Farmers stage Tesco protest over low prices paid to food producers

ANGRY pig, poultry and beef farmers demonstrated outside a Tesco outlet in Cavan town yesterday against the low prices being paid to food producers, claiming that their livelihoods are threatened because of mounting losses.

Around 100 farmers attended the protest, which continued from 11am until about 4pm. The farmers claim that the retail sector continues to enjoy high margins, while refusing to address the rising costs of production impacting across all sectors — pig, poultry, beef, milk and egg producers — as world grain market prices soar.

An Irish Farmers Association (IFA) statement issued yesterday noted: “Retailers had better deal with this issue urgently, as hundreds of local farm businesses are making significant losses while supermarkets enjoy margins of over 40% on their produce.

“Retail bosses have a responsibility to ensure that a fair price is returned to processors so primary producers can survive. A clear example of the rip-off is the price of pork. Pig producers are getting €1.34/kg and it sells for €7 on the supermarket shelves.”

The IFA said yesterday’s protest was a clear warning to the retail sector, and insisted that producer prices would need to increase immediately as the current low prices being offered for farm produce were putting thousands of local, on-farm jobs in jeopardy.

IFA National Poultry chairman, Alo Mohan, said: “Some retailers are currently sourcing over 80% of their chicken products from outside of the Republic, while controlling almost one third of the retail shelf space. Irish consumers want to support local producers, but they are not always being given the opportunity to purchase poultry products from the Republic.”

IFA Pigs committee chairman, Tim Cullinan, said: “We are seeing the destruction of jobs in local towns where too many retailers are competing viciously for market share. Stores are now selling pig meat products below the cost of production and seriously undermining Irish food producers to boost their own profits.

“This year feed prices increased at primary level by over 30% and retailers continue to profit while producers go broke.”

The Irish Examiner invited Tesco to respond to the farmers’ claims but no reply was received.