The supermarkets will be the next target for protesting farmers, the Irish Farmers' Association president, Mr John Dillon, revealed yesterday at his organisation's annual general meeting.
He said he hoped he could enlist the support of consumers to expose what he termed the exorbitant margins taken by the retailers at the expense of farmers and consumers.
He told a press conference that the farmer's share of the consumer price was now down to 30 per cent from 50 per cent some years ago.
He added that: "€70 out of every €100 spent on the weekly food bill goes to the multinational supermarkets and processors and most consumers do not realise that." Mr Dillon said the campaign will at first be an information one where the IFA would continue to expose the margins taken by the supermarkets at farmers' expense on food often no more than 24 hours on the shelves.
"We will resist below cost selling and demand the inclusion of potatoes and vegetables in the Groceries' Order," he said.
"We know that when we challenge the supermarkets on the prices they are charging for our produce, they will drop them, but then they will take that cut in price out of what they pay us," he said.
"I have to ask, where is the Competition Authority when suppliers are forced to drop their prices under threat of delisting," he asked?
"You would think that farmers were driving up prices to consumers, the way the Competition Authority behaves," he added.
"The Competition Authority ignores the fact that product prices to farmers are lower today than they were 10 years ago, while the food prices to consumers have risen by 38 per cent," he said.
"Today, I am putting it to the Competition Authority: take on the big boys with the high margins," he said.
He said farmers had not caused inflation but were the victims of inflation and the Government had failed to control that.
"I want to send out a strong message that farmers will no longer be price takers.
"We must get an economic return for our product and we will not allow prices to be pushed below the cost of production," he said. Mr Dillon said that taking on the supermarkets for excessive profits was part of the campaign he had launched in January for the survival of the family farm.
"The campaign has not stopped. It is on-going," he said.