Tesco profits - £7 million per day
UK - Ulster Farmers’ Union President Kenneth Sharkey says today’s record profits announcement from Tesco is impossible to reconcile with the lack of profitability in the farming industry.
19 April 2007
1 minute read
Tesco has announced record annual figures with the UFU highlighting that the UK’s largest retailer is now making a £7 million profit each day.
UFU President Kenneth Sharkey said; “Tesco’s financial success story is simply not reflected at farm level and there will be ongoing frustration among farmers that retailers, who are supposed to be our food chain ‘partners’, are making such strong profits at a time when many farm businesses are in a long term loss making situation”.
The UFU says Tesco should use its strong position in a positive way to give its farmer suppliers more security. Kenneth Sharkey said; “Tesco recently announced a new milk contract initiative to ensure that the dairy farmers who supply them have their costs covered. This principle should be extended across all the products which local farmers are supplying to the retail sector. If Tesco acknowledge that dairy farmers need to have their costs covered, then this should also be the case for all the other products supplied to them by local farmers”.
“We will be raising this issue with Tesco and also urging other retailers to adopt a similar approach. We will continue to highlight to retailers that unless farmers are paid enough to cover their costs and realise a decent income, then the local supply base for farm produce will be under threat”.
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