"UPA Huelva has been denouncing for several campaigns that Carrefour has been applying volume discounts to strawberries, which has a negative effect on the consumers' perception of the product's quality and can hurt producers. It's an insult to producers who risk it all to grow a high-quality product. Lowering prices at the point of sale gives consumers the feeling that they are purchasing a devalued product," the agrarian organization stated.
The initiative of the French multinational, which appears for example on the front page of a written media of provincial circulation dated 02/07/2021, offers the first kilo of strawberry at € 1.89 and the second at € 0.57, that is to say at € 1.23/kg if the client purchases 2 kilos. "This is especially evil at a time when there is very low production because of a delay in the campaign caused by the cold weather and the kilo was being paid at a reasonable price. Not only does it send the message that this is a devalued product it also communicates that competition or small businesses overcharge their customers; which is not true," UPA Huelva added. "At this stage, we already know that this is nothing more than a strategy to fill the hypermarket using strawberries at a discounted price. This affects our farmers as well as small and medium businesses, as it will negatively affect their sales while the promotion lasts," they stated. According to UPA Huelva, this kind of promotion will harm the sector at a time when the pandemic has caused irreparable damage to thousands of traditional businesses and should be rejected by society. "Carrefour once again loses the opportunity to respect its agricultural suppliers by paying them a fair price for their work," the organization stated. Thousands of farmers throughout Spain protested in 2020 for fair prices at the origin.
UPA Huelva said that Carrefour should learn from other supermarket chains, such as Lidl, which has reached an agreement with UPA Jaen to agree on the minimum purchase price paid to farmers for the kilo of olive oil produced in traditional farms, thus giving a fair return to these farmers. Unfortunately, this is not the case with Carrefour and Huelva's strawberry."
For more information: UPA Huelva Tel.: +34 959 248 931 upahuelva@upahuelva.org www.upahuelva.es
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