THE Victorian Farmer’s Federation believes the move to slash fruit and vegetable prices by Coles could be a good thing for growers “if it’s done the right way”.

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.

Coles announced on Monday 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 as much as 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.

"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,” Mr Broad said.

For more, see tomorrow's Bendigo Advertiser.