A CHRISTMAS PRICE WAR ON FRUIT AND VEG

Top supermarkets slash our shopping bills in run-up to festive feast

A FRUIT and veg price war has kicked off, helping families cut the cost of Christmas.

As pressure mounts on household budgets over the festive period, Marks & Spencer fired the opening salvo with a 2kg bag of potatoes at just 39c – around 20c a kg – and 1kg of carrots also for 39c.

But other leading supermarket chains had already reduced prices for the festivities.

Tesco has 1kg of carrots at 49c and Brussels sprouts at 98c a kg, while SuperValu is charging 49c per kg of carrots, and 98c per kg for its Brussels sprouts and parsnips.

Aldi has pears at 73c per kg, melons at 79c each and broccoli at 98c per kg, while Lidl has been offering its avocados and butternut squash for 49c each, along with onions at 49c a kg and a

tray of five lemons and limes for the same price. Lidl also said it would be offering carrots, brussels sprouts and parsnips for 49c from next Thursday until Christmas Eve.

However, while these price cuts will see families’ shopping list cut this Christmas, not everyone welcomed the news. Farmers have protested against the decision by M&S to slash the prices of produce below what they say is the cost of production.

Members of the Irish Farmers’ Association held a vigil outside the M&S store at Liffey Valley Shopping Centre in west Dublin yesterday afternoon, and they even brought fresh produce with them and gave it away to customers outside the store.

IFA president Joe Healy described the price drop as ‘gross hypocrisy’, adding that it has already been a difficult year for farmers due to the late spring and dry conditions during the summer.

‘I want to nail the lie that vegetable and potatoes can be sold below cost without hurting Irish growers and ultimately driving them out of business,’ he said.

‘Farmers have invested hugely in their businesses to ensure sufficient supplies of fresh Irish produce.

‘This predatory pricing model takes the inherent value out of fresh produce lines, leaving it difficult to ensure sustainable farm gate prices, and demeans the category in the minds of the consumer.’

Mr Healy continued: ‘It is ironic that in the M&S “Farming for the Future” programme, they refer to sustainability and ethical standards. It begs the question as to what is ethical and sustainable about these predatory pricing tactics?’ However, M&S has defended its decision, with a spokesperson for the chain saying the promotion is part of an ongoing campaign to offer customers ‘great value’.

‘We are committed to supporting Irish suppliers, both to deliver more products to our stores in Ireland and also by enabling many of them to supply to our M&S stores globally,’ the spokesman said.

‘Our reputation for quality, innovation and sustainability is built on excellent long-term relationships with our suppliers and we will always pay a fair price to our suppliers and farmers.’

Tesco also defended its decision to slash prices ahead of the holiday season.

A spokesman for the supermarket chain told this paper yesterday: ‘On an ongoing basis, we work closely with our growers to ensure we can offer our customers the best possible value.

‘We price competitively for customers but we also balance our relationship with farmers to support the creation of a sustainable agricultural sector.’

Lidl echoed these statements, with a spokesperson saying the company is committed to bringing Irish produce to stores, and has invested €600million per year to source home-grown goods and services.

A similar price war in 2014 saw the then-Agriculture Minister Simon Coveney attempting to halt the cut-price sale of fruit and vegetables by supermarkets. Mr Coveney told the Dáil at the time that his department had secured individual agreements from the major chains not to sell the cheaper options in the runup to Christmas.

He told TDs that he had been concerned by offers available the previous year, which saw households able to buy a bag of sprouts for 5c or a kilo of carrots for 5c.

He said that supermarkets were invited to individually discuss the issue of promoting Irish horticulture products, and that there was assurance given that none of them would initiate a similar promotional campaign coming up to Christmas 2014.

Mr Coveney said: ‘I very much encourage greater co-operation and discussion between all parties.’

‘Predatory pricing model’ ‘I encourage more co-operation’

THESE last weeks, in the immediate runin to Christmas, are undoubtedly the most financially challenging of the year for countless families the length and breadth of the country.

And with the Economic and Social Research Institute’s recent analysis suggesting that, in the wake of the Budget, nobody is actually any better off, we can only welcome anything that helps to relieve some of that financial pressure for so many hard-pressed households.

So we must salute, therefore, the powers-that-be in Marks & Spencer for offering shoppers some genuinely bargain-priced vegetables.

With potatoes, carrots, Brussels sprouts and parsnips – all the Christmas Day staples – eminently affordable in your local Marks & Spencer this weekend, we can only hope that such a move encourages other supermarkets to follow suit.