A new £1bn supermarket price war could shatter the fragile recovery of the British farming industry, the government's farming tsar, Sir Don Curry, has warned. Sir Don told the Guardian that he was "deeply concerned" that prices were being cut on the high street "without serious thought being given to the impact on the supply chain".
He said there was no more slack for farmers to take up. "The pips are really squeaking. The outcome could be that the British industry has great difficulty in competing with imported goods [made] with lower wages and lower standards," Sir Don said. "I'm not sure that is what the consumer really wants."
Robin Tapper, the National Farmers Union's head of food and farming, said consolidation among retailers had already led to "severe pressure" on suppliers. "Processors are already working near the cost of production. If they can't pass their costs on it will have a major impact." He predicted that profits would fall again, putting livelihoods at risk.
"It is bound to have an effect on their ability to supply good quality British food," he said. "We are putting that in jeopardy."
US retail giant Walmart, which owns Asda supermarkets, is hoping to exploit a loophole in UK planning law to massively expand 40 Asda stores in the UK by installing mezzanine floors. A public inquiry has started into plans for a store in Eastleigh in Hampshire where Asda-Walmart wants to put in an extra 50,000 sq ft, doubling the size of the existing store.
Friends of the Earth is calling for a change in planning law so that all major internal extensions, including mezzanine floors, would require planning permission. An amendment to the Planning Bill drafted by the environmental protection group will be debated next week in the House of Lords.
