LOCAL agriculture specialists have welcomed an independent review into the Food and Grocery Code of Conduct, saying more transparency into grocery retail prices is needed.
The review of the code was announced in October 2023, but was recently brought back into spotlight last week when the Federal Government announced the appointment of former ALP politician Dr Craig Emerson to lead the review.
Whorouly dairy farmer Jon Pethybridge welcomed the review in the hopes it would increase transparency in the dairy supply chain.
He said it’s currently difficult to know how retail prices are determined.
“More transparency, information and understanding we can have as an industry can only be good thing,” he said.
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“Getting good information is very helpful.”
Mr Pethybridge is also a committee member of Dairy Farmers Victoria, a dairy farming advocacy body formed last year.
He said the dairy industry has a mandatory code of conduct between farmers and processors, providing pricing stability and transparency, and he suggested a mandatory food and grocery code would be a positive move.
“It's working out the missing link between the processor and the supermarket,” he said.
“Supermarkets put a huge amount of pressure on the processors through shelf spacing, product location - so they have a lot of power with negotiating with the milk processor.”
Nutrien Ivone Agencies livestock manager Dan Ivone also hoped the review would provide transparency over beef prices.
He said difference in retail beef prices compared to cattle had been “huge” during the soft cattle market last year, when fears of an El Nino weather pattern saw many farmers sell their stock.
“When that panic came, the supermarkets and processes got very good at saying, ‘well, we've got a lot of cattle booked in’, and then that created more panic,” he said.
Mr Ivone said the supply glut saw abattoirs drop their purchase price for cattle, but this wasn’t reflected in supermarket prices.
“There's got to be a bit of transparency in what goes on,” he said.
Speaking on ABC News Breakfast last Wednesday, Mr Albanese said the review would examine if further mandating of the code of conduct is required.
“We know that when we have seen a reduction in the cost to supermarkets, that hasn't been passed on in an appropriate way to consumers,” he said.
According to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), the Food and Grocery code was introduced to improve standards of business behaviour in the food and grocery sector, including the conduct of retailers and wholesalers towards suppliers.
A Senate inquiry into supermarket prices is also underway, chaired by Greens senator Nick McKim, to present a final report by May 7.
