VFF president Andrew Broad said in light of the cut-price strategy, supermarket giants must commit to an ethical sourcing policy when dealing with Australian fresh food producers.

“If our supermarkets are serious about helping farmers, they need to commit to sourcing produce in an ethical manner by guaranteeing they will pay Australian food producers a reasonable price for their product,” Mr Broad said.

“Growers will have no problem with the latest cut-price strategy as long as they are being rewarded for their investment.”

Coles on Monday announced the “Freshness” campaign which will see prices cut on at least a dozen popular fruit and vegetables every week.

As part of this, Coles said regular prices on some fruit and vegetables would be slashed by 50 per cent.

Coles claims the move will increase sales and provide a more certain market for Australian growers who have an abundance of product after a bumper crops across the country.

But Mr Broad stressed the industry would suffer if big supermarkets did not follow sustainable business practices.

“While the supermarkets’ latest round of discounting may be helping fruit and vegetable growers deal with an oversupply of produce, they must guarantee that growers will receive a fair return on their investment,” he said,

“There remains a large gap between farm-gate prices paid by supermarkets and shelf prices paid by consumers.

“Coles claims that it’s able to get most fresh produce from gate to plate in 24 hours. If the supply chain is so efficient, why is there such a high mark-up on some fresh items?

“There are limited storage costs, and handling costs have been minimised – and often at the grower’s expense.

“Without sustainable business practices from our supermarkets that allow both parties to profit, growers will be forced out of business.”

Clear labelling along with making sure Australian products are promoted and encouraging shoppers to buy more fruits and vegetables through their advertising are part of the “ethical sourcing policy” VFF are calling for.