The NFU is toughening its stance on the imbalance of power in the food chain.
Supermarkets and food processors need to work in a fair, transparent and sustainable way with their suppliers so that all parts of the food chain will have an opportunity to prosper. That is the message that the NFU will be putting across at a European meeting this week.
The COPA-COGECA seminar in Brussels will see European farming leaders trying to figure out a way to establish a level playing field with food retailers and manufacturers.
NFU director general, Richard Macdonald, will speak at the debate to highlight problems common to all EU member states including intense competition for contracts, over supply in some sectors and the need to strike a balance between regulation and self regulation.
The union’s senior adviser on food chain relations, Robin Tapper, will follow up from Macdonald by detailing the main issues for British farmers and their cooperatives.
Tapper, who has chaired a COPA-COGECA working party ahead of the seminar, said: “We must address the imbalance of buying power between retailers and producers, as farming becomes more a function of the market place. It is not the bigger size of supermarkets that is causing the problem but the abuse of their power.
“At the same time, we need to become smarter in assessing demand so that we don’t get such extreme peaks and troughs in prices and maximise our earning potential.”
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