THE message from industry bodies and growers to come out of the senate committee inquiry into supermarket price gouging in Orange last week was that the men and women who produce our food just want a fair playing field when it comes to pricing.
The committee, which comprised of senators Nick McKim (chair), Glenn Sterle (deputy chair), Ross Cadell, Louise Pratt, Tammy Tyrrell, and Gerard Rennick, heard testimony from NSW Farmers, three orchardists from the Orange area, Cattle Australia, Dairy Connect, and Macquarie River Food and Fibre.
As part of its submission, NSW Farmers said growers were often receiving prices below their cost of production, and were also being subject to unfair trade practices.
Spokesperson for NSW Farmers, vice president Rebecca Reardon, called for a significant overhaul of legislation and regulatory reform of competition, including the introduction of divestiture powers to address the high market concentration.
She said NSW Farmers wanted improved and expanded price transparency on data collection regarding the farm gate versus retail price and an overhaul of the food and grocery code, requiring that it becomes mandatory.
We're the ones taking all the risks and with very little reward as it stands.
- Ian Pearce, Stoneleigh Orchards, Orange.
Mrs Reardon also called for an increase in powers of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission to undertake enforcement activities and an introduction of general and more specific prohibitions to address unfair trading practices.
Mrs Reardon said it was time for action and she hoped it would come out of the inquiry.
"We've had a lot of inquiries over the past 20 or 30 years. What we really want to see is some action," she said.
"There's no one silver bullet here, but we've presented a multitude of solutions that we think need to be looked at and we think need to be put in place.
"So hopefully we get a better outcome for growers, consumers and for the entire supply chain."
Mrs Reardon said the main barrier to a change in practices was a willingness of people to say "enough is enough".
"We need a willingness from the government to actually take action and to say this has got to be for the benefit of farmers, consumers, and those industry players in the supply chain who are supplying the major supermarkets," she said.
"I think the tide is turning. I think people are starting to understand it's not the growers making super profits or even any profits.
"When you look at the gross margins of the supermarkets and if you went and looked at the gross margins of a farmer, you would find that many of them are not making money, they're not covering their costs of production. And there's a whole raft of issues that's adding to that.
"Whether it's unfair trade practices, low prices or wastage. The specifications farmers are forced to abide by is meaning that there's so much wastage."
Cherry and apple grower Guy Gaeta has often been outspoken against supermarkets.
He has been in Orange for 38 years and said through the past 30 years he has seen about 200 farmers leave the industry with nothing.
"People don't understand how ruthless the supermarkets are," he said.
"I am against what they do to the family farms and the way they reject produce.
"I am against the way they come to the market price. They tell us the market price, their market price.
Mr Gaeta mentioned in his testimony that family-run orchards were going to be gone within 10 years.
"(Supermarkets) need to change their ethics and treat us like human beings and people that work and need to be paid," he said.
"We don't want their millions, we just want a fair price for our produce and at the moment they're not doing it."
Stoneleigh Orchard's Ian Pearce, Orange, has invested heavily in his orchard, but is now looking at scaling back.
"If you are going to run something at a loss, why would you do it?" he said.
"You can not continue to put all this work into something for little or no return.
"We're the ones taking all the risks and with very little reward as it stands."
Senate committee member Ross Cadell said the inquiry was an important step in making change.
"We're hearing that our food supply is under threat and we're hearing the processes of big supermarkets are putting pressure on farmers," he said.
"Family farmers are leaving and we're hearing about crops ploughed back in and orchards torn up.
"That has to stop if we want to keep feeding Australia."
