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  • Foodwise Articles

    Famous foodie lashes supermarket stranglehold

    Author | Paddy Manning

    Celebrity chef and food producer Maggie Beer has taken a swipe at major supermarkets for pushing food prices lower and failing to support Australian growers.

    In a speech last week, Ms Beer, whose pate, quince paste and ice creams sell through Coles and Woolworths, lamented ”so many Australians seek the cheapest alternative in food, and perhaps this is exacerbated by the big two [retailers], our duopoly, that pits one against the other in price wars, that see the farmer suffer. We have to do something about that.”

    Speaking after the International Year of Co-operatives conference in Port Macquarie, Ms Beer backed entrepeneur Dick Smith, who launched his own range 12 years ago to support Australian farmers against rising food imports.

    Sales of Dick Smith Foods had dropped from $80 million in year one, to about $8 million.

    ”It’s interesting Australians say they will support Australian-made and Australian-grown, but will we? We support what’s marketed most, and we so often support what’s cheapest, especially with food.”

    Based in Nuriootpa in South Australia’s Barossa Valley, where a consumers co-operative was formed in 1944, Beer’s farm includes vineyards, olive groves, quince orchards and a soft fruit orchard.

    ”If we don’t support our farmers, we will not continue to enjoy the freshness and the diversity of the produce we have now,” Beer warned.

    Read the full article here.

    This article extract is reproduced here courtesy of the Sydney Morning Herald with permission from the author.

    The Soap Box, The Soap Box Features ,