THE latest round of supermarket chain wars have the potential to damage the local stonefruit economy, growers say.
Coles announced their new 'There's no freshness like Coles freshness' campaign at the end of January, promising to cut the price of fruit and vegetable items.
As part of the campaign, up to 50 per cent will be taken off a dozen selected items each week.
The price of peaches plummeted on February 1, with Coles announcing that they would be sold at $1.88 a kilo. The previous week, peaches had retailed for $2.96.
VF Siciliano and Sons' Tony Siciliano said the campaign would mostly have a negative impact on local farmers.
Mr Siciliano said the Swan Hill region produced some of the best fruit in the country, and the discounted prices did not reflect the quality of local products.
"Everyone's conscientious of a nectarine being a nectarine, but there's different qualities out there," he said.
"We're in a very good area for stonefruit even though don't pick the volumes that some of the others do. But for quality, flavour and colour, it's one of the best areas in Australia."
Coles says the anticipated spike in sales will have some benefit for growers, allowing them to clear their seconds stock.
While he acknowledged this as a positive, Mr Siciliano said growers needed to be cautious. With a high amount of seconds fruit going into the market, it has the potential to drag down the prices of better quality items.
Woorinen nectarine and peach grower Dean Morpeth said the discounted prices were concerning in the midst of growing operational expenses.
"Every season our freight, chemical and labour costs increase. Everything goes up except for our return," Mr Morpeth said.
"Right now we've got a situation where we're not making a lot of money, we're just surviving. If they cut (prices) back more, it's a bit scary.
"The market's been clogged up, and once (the supermarkets) get prices down, they've got the power and they keep it there."
In a statement released by Coles last week, the supermarket giant rejected claims that they were causing lower farm gate returns. Instead, they said they had heard from "many growers" who supported the move to shift fruit volumes.
Coles also dismissed claims from rival Woolworths that their campaign was misleading.
"We are acting responsibly and fairly and our farmer suppliers are pleased with what Coles is doing. We cannot be held responsible for issues faced by other suppliers who deal with other retailers," the statement said.
But the Victorian Farmer's Federation (VFF) remains sceptical of the move, calling on supermarkets to commit to an ethical sourcing policy when dealing with fresh food producers.
"There remains a large gap between farm-gate prices paid by supermarkets and shelf prices paid by consumers," VFF president Andrew Broad said.
"Growers will have no problem with the latest cut-price strategy as long as they are being rewarded for their investment.
"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."
For more farming stories, see this month's edition of The North West Farmer, published this week.
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