Price cuts by supermarkets cannot come “at the expense of farmers and producers”, the Irish Farmers’ Association has warned.
It comes after supermarket group Aldi said it will cut the prices of some of its most popular products by 23%, which will see the price of a typical trolley of the most popular goods reduced from €121 to €106.
Aldi said that prices have been reduced on items including its crumbed ham, sliced chicken and turkey, fromage frais and kids smoothies.
Price cuts have also been announced for the supermarket’s protein puddings and mousses, Irish beef burgers, free range chicken fillets and 0% fat Greek yoghurt.
Colin Breslin, Aldi’s Managing Director of Buying and Services, said the company is committed to offering “unbeatable” value to its customers and reducing prices whenever it can.
“We’ve cut prices across our range on the products that matter most to Irish shoppers – from back-to-school lunches and healthy eating options to core staples that go into the trolley each week. We know these price cuts will make a real difference to households right across the country,” Mr Breslin said.
He said their suppliers will not bear the costs of discounts.
Mr Breslin said: “This latest round of price cuts will have no impact whatsoever on the costs paid to our suppliers.
“At Aldi we have a very long and proud history of supporting Irish producers. We’re committed to offering unbeatable value to our customers and maintaining a strong discount versus the full price supermarkets.”
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In response, IFA President Tim Cullinan said farmers would be “very sceptical about the latest publicity blitz by some retailers claiming to champion consumers with lower prices”.
He said the “food chain cannot survive if relentless pressure is piled on those who produce the food”.
Meanwhile, the President of the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association said the reductions would be the “first real test” for the Food Regulatory Office established last year.
An Rialálaí Agraibhia was established to examine commercial relationships between food producers, processors and retailers.
In a statement, ICMSA leader Denis Drennan said the onus was on the new body to “verify that any reductions in price introduced by supermarkets are funded out of their own margin and not simply passed back to… producers through drastic and unilateral reductions in the prices paid to them”.
Separately, Aldi also said today that it saw one of its busiest Christmas trading periods to date, with customers buying over 8 million Brussels sprouts, 2.5 million mince pies and 320,000 bottles of champagne, sparkling wine and prosecco for Christmas and New Year celebrations.
