"The reason why we see rotting peppers in our fields is that many of our supermarket chains are importing them from other countries, while they could sell peppers from our own production," complained the grower Tomáš Zoufalý. "The problem this year is probably worse than ever before," he added.
The situation is forcing growers to throw away their vegetables. Only in Lower Kounice, 400 tonnes of peppers have been left to rot.
"Retail chains have their suppliers in foreign countries, such as Hungary and the Netherlands, who supply them with vegetables all year round, even in the period when domestic produce is available. This did not happen in the past," continues Tomáš.
In response to low sales, Czech growers are considering reducing production by 30%. "This is understandable; why grow something only to throw it away? We believe that consumers would not accept this if they realised that stores are providing them with expensive imported vegetables."
Source: blesk.cz
