Farmers are calling for an end to deceptive labelling by supermarkets. The ‘big six’ supermarkets, Tesco, Aldi, Lidl, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s and Asda, often advertise their fruit and vegetable produce next to British flags and cover their country of origin labels and billboards with quaint farm imagery. This gives shoppers the impression the food’s origin is British when, in fact, it is often imported. This technique is profitable for supermarkets. But this deceit increases the vulnerability of British farmers, many already on the brink of collapse. Denied a reliable and stable customer base or income, an increasing number of UK farmers are at risk of going bust.
Riverford Organic Farmers, a British farm located in Devon, is campaigning against this crisis. They have labelled the practice “farmwashing”. Riverford’s founder, Guy Singh-Watson urges the CEO’s of the ‘big six’ to be honest with their customers about where their produce originates from. As part of their “#Farmers Against Farmwashing” campaign, Singh-Watson, wrote in an open letter to the supermarkets that “much of the produce marketed under the British flag is imported, animal welfare claims are often cynically worded, and that ‘trusted farms’, such as Cherry Tree Farm that East Anglia Bylines recently reported on, are frequently US-style mega farms. Meanwhile the quaint farms shown in adverts are struggling to survive.”
Cost to British farmers
The supermarkets’ tactics of promoting non-British produce in this disingenuous way makes matters worse for British farmers. Ali Capper, owner of Stocks Farm and Chair of British Apples and Pears says, “supermarkets might claim to support British farmers – you can see it in their advertising and on the side of their lorries – but their actions speak louder than their words.” The supermarkets lack of support for UK growers has led to many farmers, like Capper, struggling to keep up with the basic costs of operating their farms. Referring to 2022, Capper says “the cost of production for apple and pear growers has increased to 23% in just one year”. This is a staggering amount considering that supermarket return on apple and pears were practically static, at 0.8%, that same year.
The rise in production prices is impacting farmers. “The costs for electricity, labour, fertilisers have all increased,” explains Capper. For farmers, this makes it difficult to keep up with the basic costs that come with running their farms. “This situation is unsustainable”, she adds. “All we’re asking is that supermarkets pay a fair return and stop misleading the British public.”
The stories of Capper and Singh-Watson are representative of many British farmers who are feeling the pressures of the supermarket’s underhand ploy.
Do government schemes offer farmers any help?
British farmers in England are currently required to switch from the EU Basic Payment Scheme, which is due to end in 2027, to the new Environmental Land Management Scheme. This represents a significant reduction in the payments to aid agricultural practices. To make up for the difference, farmers can join the new Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) which provides grants to farmers for over a hundred actions, such as an SFI action for organic farming and an SFI action for soil health.
For some farmers however, this isn’t enough to sustain their farms and many are left in worse financial distress than before. When asked on BBC Farming Today whether the SFI scheme is enough to replace what farmers used to get, Norfolk farmer Chris Eglington sombrely replied, “no.”
Why this matters
A strong British farming sector is essential for UK food security. The government states that the “food group for which the UK is most reliant on imports is fruit and vegetables, producing 17% and 55% respectively of supply.” They claim to be “supporting increased domestic production, particularly of UK fruit and vegetables, to strengthen our food security.” Yet without fairer treatment by supermarkets and a stable or growing “Buy British” customer base, the agricultural sector will remain in turmoil.
Consumer confidence in the farming and supermarket supply chain has steadily decreased since 2020. Supermarket ‘farmwashing’ does nothing to restore customer confidence nor grow the agriculture sector. Campaigns like ‘Farmers Against Farmwashing‘ are vital to raise public awareness of the misleading labelling practices.
Riverford has launched an action plan to stop ‘farmwashing’. They are asking members of the public to send an email to their MPs requesting better protection of British family farms and to demand supermarkets are honest about the true origin of the produce they are selling.
