Fight for fairness: farmers suffer under pressure from the retail chains!

Fight for fairness: farmers suffer under pressure from the retail chains!

alarming conditions in the Austrian food market: The fairness office, which has supported farmers and food producers since 2022 and free of charge, recorded more than 800 complaints about unfair trading practices. This number significantly exceeds that of 2023, which underlines the urgency of the situation, as the 5min.at reports. Federal Minister Norbert Tettschnig described the Austrian food market as a "struggle with uneven weapons", since three large retail chains control around 90 percent of the market and put more than 100,000 peasant businesses and processors under pressure. The documented grievances include a case in which a retail chain increased the price of a product by 30 percent, while the producer received two percent less. Such cases endanger small and medium-sized companies that suffer from increasing personnel and energy costs.

The challenges for domestic producers are intensified by targeted price surcharges on quality brands, while self -brands of the retail chains are offered at dumping prices. This means that consumers often use the cheaper no-name products and suffer the quality of the traditional brands. This information comes from the current report of the fairness office, which also indicates the high and non-transparent costs that producers have to pay for pushed out service providers. These financial burdens ultimately benefit consumers because the dealers maximize the margins. The fact that start-ups and young entrepreneurs are pushed into a dependency on large retail chains by exclusive delivery contracts also exacerates the situation. They are often demanded without a acceptance guarantee-a risk that is associated with high contractual penalties if the promised quantities cannot be delivered, the LKO.AT Clear.

In order to remedy the grievances, the EU is planning a comprehensive evaluation of the guidelines on unfair trading practices by 2025. This measure is intended to ensure that the producers are preserved and exploited fair income. The increasing number of complaints illustrates the urgent need for action in order to create a fair distribution in the food chain. The report of the fairness office not only shows the current problems, but also emphasizes the growing awareness of fairness in the value chain. It remains to be seen which specific steps the retail chains will take to get these problems under control.