Tim Cullinan, the president of the Irish Farmers’ Association, is calling for an immediate and significant increase in retail potato prices. He addressed a national meeting of growers in Dublin last night (March 15) during which it was agreed that the association will seek a meeting with Ireland’s five main food retailers.
Those in attendance also agreed that potato growers would stop supplying these supermarkets until their demands are met. The meeting was informed that five retailers – Dunnes Stores, Tesco, SuperValu, Aldi and Lidl – account for 92% of fresh potato sales in Ireland.
During 2022, there were significant price increases achieved across all the main food categories in shops. The average rate of retail inflation came in at 16.3%. The significant exception to this trend was potatoes with retail prices increasing by only 1.4% Tim Cullinan stressed the need for any increase in potato retail price to be passed back to growers in full.
Source: agriland.ie