A Senate committee examining supermarket prices held hearings in Orange, in the NSW central-west, last week, with farmers laying bare their struggles in dealing with the powerful duopoly of Coles and Woolworths.
Shepparton-based Michael Crisera, from Fruit Growers Victoria, told the committee many people working in the industry had been afraid to speak out about the market conditions experienced by growers dealing with supermarkets.
"They don't want to be seen to be biting the hand that feeds them," Mr Crisera said.
"There is a real fear of retribution commercially.
"Current codes of conduct are not working — growers are unwilling to report issues, enforcement is rare and non-compliance is widespread.
"There needs to be a strong, regulatory framework for cracking down on unethical behaviour."
Orchard owner Guy Gaeta, who grows apples and cherries, said major supermarkets had set prices too low for produce, making the future for growers unviable.
"Every year on the news, Woolies is saying they pay people millions of dollars, but yet they put on us whatever they want," he told the inquiry
"At the rate we're going ... there won't be any family farms left within five to 10 years.
"If you don't have family farms, you're going to lose your food security."
The Senate inquiry was set up following claims of price gouging by major supermarkets to consumers.
But primary producers have warned the market power of supermarkets means they can buy goods cheaply.
Another orchardist, Ian Pearce, told the committee the prices set for goods by supermarkets had largely stayed unchanged over several years, despite labour costs increasing.
"In 2011, we got $2.37 a kilo and $2.55 a kilo. Last year in September, similar timing, $2.60 and $2.57 a kilo," he said.
"We're very dependent with apples on the domestic market ... we're caught in a cost price squeeze."
Prices offered by supermarkets to growers had not shifted in a decade, National Farmers’ Federation rural affairs general manager Charlotte Wundersitz told the inquiry.
Farmers needed to be better informed about how the prices are set by the major players, Ms Wundersitz said.
"At the end of the day, farmers need to understand how the price they're being paid is determined, and with greater oversight and greater data and information," she said.
"That then gives the grower more power to be able to understand, make a decision on whether that's the best option for them, and also have more faith in the process."
Michael Coote, the chief executive of vegetable peak body AUSVEG, said the major supermarkets had carried out "unconscionable" practices towards growers.
There were few incentives for new entrants to the market and with no improvements, more imported vegetables could line supermarket shelves, Mr Coote told the inquiry.
Dairy Connect Farmers' Group president Graham Forbes told the committee mandatory codes of conduct needed to be brought in across the grocery sector.
It was not a silver bullet but it would address some of the concerns, he said.
A mandatory code for the dairy industry, introduced in 2020, had addressed some issues in the sector, Mr Forbes said.
"It just made a big difference to us when we've been negotiating with some of the companies," he said.
A separate inquiry chaired by former Labor minister Craig Emerson is examining whether the grocery code should be made mandatory.
13°C