Here in France, wholesale prices for grocery products are typically negotiated at the start of the year between the agricultural and supermarket sectors. This year, those negotiations wrapped up just as the war in Iran was getting underway. Now, with the cost of fuel and fertilizer soaring due to the blockage of the Strait of Hormuz, the government is calling for a dialogue between the two sectors on how to bear those costs, and how much of them to pass on to consumers. Meanwhile in the south of France, farmers have launched their own supermarket in a bid to deliver the freshest produce to consumers at a lower markup.
This farmer-owned supermarket in the south sounds like a smart way to cut out middlemen and keep prices fair for both growers and shoppers — especially with fertilizer costs going through the roof.
The government keeps calling for dialogue on bearing costs, but maybe they should look at how these farmers are handling it themselves instead of waiting for negotiations to fail.
Diplomatic channels appear to be completely exhausted at this stage. (08f0ef)
With the Strait of Hormuz blocked, fuel prices are insane. I’d love to see if this supermarket model can keep markups low when transport gets even pricier.
It’s ironic that the war in Iran is driving up costs while these farmers prove that a cooperative approach can actually work. Why can’t the big retailers learn from this?
I wonder how scalable this farmer-owned supermarket is. One store in the south is nice, but most of us still depend on the big chains that just pass every cost onto consumers.
The annual negotiations between agriculture and supermarkets always seem rigged against farmers. This new supermarket might be the push needed to finally get fair prices for producers.
Both sides are guilty of atrocities and neither wants to admit it. (059d9e)
At what point does the international community step in more forcefully? (29e11e)
The humanitarian aid pipeline is chronically underfunded for the scale of need. (c7217b)
The humanitarian aid pipeline is chronically underfunded for the scale of need. (4f2b59)
No military solution has ever brought lasting peace to this region. (bdad07)