Understanding retail needs | Farmers seek ways to get more of their products onto grocers’ shelves
Grocery retailers are committed to buying products from local farmers, but producers need to be educated about what stores need, says a Retail Council of Canada executive.
David Wilkes, senior vice-president of the council’s grocery division, told the Senate agriculture committee last week that the “largest challenge” for retailers is to make sure farmers know what is expected of them.
“I think (the main challenge is) the ability to educate local producers as to what the requirements of the grocery industry are, to (explain) that the customer now is demanding fresh strawberries on a year-round basis,” Wilkes told Manitoba senator Don Plett.
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He said farmers need to understand that consumer demands are not negotiable anymore.
Farm witnesses at parliamentary committees have repeatedly complained that local supermarket chains do not make space available on their shelves for local produce.
Farmers’ market representatives have argued that their growing success comes in part from poor treatment by supermarket chains of local produce.
There have been tales about rules that require local produce to be sent to a retail chain warehouse hundreds of kilometres away only to be sent back and labelled as local.
Wilkes said retailers are doing their best to promote local produce and to work with local farmers, but there are limitations.
“All our members have a locally grown-first procurement policy so if there is a supply available from a Canadian grower, it will be the one that gets the nod,” he said.
“We have an ability for local growers to deliver directly to the stores so that you do not have to ship from your producing area to a (distribution centre) miles away and back to that same store.”
However, he said farmers must understand the requirements that a retail store faces. It is not enough for a farmer to have product and want to sell it to a local store.
“We have a variety of programs where members will work with local growers to explain procurement standards, most notable among them food safety, making sure people understand what the expectations of the retail community are to maintain food safety and working with those growers to ensure that they have the right practices and husbandry techniques to ensure they are met,” said Wilkes.
He said members of the retail council also work with provincial governments to implement buy local policies.
“We have a number of programs where we are supporting locally raised or corn-fed beef that respond to Canadians’ desire to purchase locally and from the people they live beside,” he said.
However, he complained that some government regulations make it more difficult for retailers to meet demand for local produce.
There is a rule that “local” can only be applied to a product produced within 50 kilometres.
“In a market as wide as Canada, this is very restrictive.”
He said differing labelling standards among the provinces are also a burden on the retail sector.
In Quebec, the origin of every vegetable on a vegetable platter must be noted on a label. Across the border in Ontario, labeling rules are more lax.
“In some cases, the cost of complying with the labelling is more than the cost of producing the product that they are looking to sell to our members,” Wilkes said.
