Today’s Daily Telegraph says that “desperate British vegetable growers are lobbying supermarkets to increase the price they pay for cauliflowers, cabbages and broccoli”, as the industry faces financial ruin.
Suppliers are said to have written to Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury’s and Morrisons explaining that their overheads will spiral in the next 12 months, due to fertiliser costs almost trebling, as well as sharp increases in seed and fuel prices.
The article claims that the letters are asking for price increases of around 30 per cent, simply to keep the industry from “total collapse” as food price inflation moves higher.
Geoff Philpott of Kent cauliflower grower GG Philpott & Son is quoted as saying his fertiliser costs will triple over the next year, while other costs - for seeds, spray, staff and fuel - are likely to increase by up to 30 per cent.
"It is doubtful whether our crops can be financed over the next year," Philpott told the newspaper.
At Southern England Farms, the Cornwall-based vegetable supplier, owner Greville Richards said: "Vegetable inflation has not hit UK shelves yet. I don't think the government realises that real inflation will come on stream next year."
Richards told the Telegraph his fertiliser bill will rise from £812,000 this year to £2.2 million next, as fertiliser costs shoot up from £203 to £550 a tonne.
Philpott said his breakeven price is 44p per cauliflower this year, and that this will rise to 50p next year. He is being paid just 39p, said the article.
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