"Rip-off pricing" (or do they mean 'premium pricing') is alive and well. Read Why Organic Prices are Being Covered Up in the Daily Mail (3rc March) "Evidence of the rip-off prices supermarkets charge for organic produce is being covered up by the pro-organic lobby. The Soil Association has withdrawn publication of a study which found that the big chains charged more than twice as much as organic farm shops for some items.
"The survey, produced for the Soil Association's magazine, found that compared to farm shops, Tesco charged 63 per cent more on average for organic products, Sainsbury's 59 per cent more and Waitrose 38 per cent more. The average price of a basket of seven vegetables was £13.38, against £8.75 for farm shops - a mark-up of 53 per cent. For some items the gap was even greater. Organic beef mince was £3.85 a kilo in farm shops but £8.98 in supermarkets - 133 per cent more."
Read the whole article at Why Organic Prices are Being Covered Up in the Daily Mail...
3 comments:
Isn't this supposed to be a business blog? What an absurd, sensationalist posting.
The farm shops are populated by the independent farmers, who are mostly local. The supermarket food comes from farther afield. The farm shops and indies have a much smaller overhead than the supermarkets, who have to pay - shareholders, transportation, storage, training, fuel, buildings, wages, taxes, expansion, shrinkage and loss leading non-organic foods and goods.
I'm not saying that the supermarkets aren't making a tidy profit, clearly Tesco's prove that, but the article you have posted is hardly balanced.
The only thing that is shameful is the Soil Association, who started out as a greenpeace type food movement, but have ended up, as with greenpeace, being run by fat-cat lobbyists with huge salaries. They are basically whores to the Con-Agra world of centralised farming.
Aside from that, the article was nonsense, as was the posting.
You're bang on "prpr." Aside from which, before the crunch, consumers were on shorter purchasing cycles, so the famers markets were just a nice distraction for most, Tescos and Waitrose supplied the rest.
Today, consumers are tightening their belts, and so their buying cycles are getting longer, however, indy farmers and their markets are not seeing this, and are still appallingly tardy in terms of their presence.
How can one plan for meals if the market is every 2nd Saturday or even once per month or seasonal, as most are?
Additionally, restaurants, Whole Food stores and smaller grocery chains have already set up buying agreements with these organic farmers, hence the limited supply for markets. Often what is left, at most farmers markets, is sold at wholesale prices, not farm-shop prices.
Agreed re the Soil Association fiasco - simply a fat members club these days, for Mr. Creosote types.
Isn't this supposed to be a business blog? What an absurd, sensationalist posting.
The farm shops are populated by the independent farmers, who are mostly local. The supermarket food comes from farther afield. The farm shops and indies have a much smaller overhead than the supermarkets, who have to pay - shareholders, transportation, storage, training, fuel, buildings, wages, taxes, expansion, shrinkage and loss leading non-organic foods and goods.
I'm not saying that the supermarkets aren't making a tidy profit, clearly Tesco's prove that, but the article you have posted is hardly balanced.
The only thing that is shameful is the Soil Association, who started out as a greenpeace type food movement, but have ended up, as with greenpeace, being run by fat-cat lobbyists with huge salaries. They are basically whores to the Con-Agra world of centralised farming.
Aside from that, the article was nonsense, as was the posting.
Post a Comment