Reko online farmers' markets increasing in popularity as supermarkets accused of price gouging

Organisers of farmers' markets say they've seen a big increase in customers as distrust in supermarkets grows.

Transcript

00:00It started for Australia during COVID when the supermarkets weren't able to fulfil their

00:07orders and we decided that we would directly connect with our consumers. So we set up meeting

00:13places in the local communities and customers placed their orders through a Facebook post

00:19and paid directly into our bank accounts. And then we parked in local car parks and

00:25they drove through, put their windows down and even still to this day we throw their goodies.

00:31Sometimes the smart ones have got an Esky on their back seat and we're able to

00:35pack everything in there for them and they keep on driving.

00:38I get dragged to a few farmers markets Jackie and sometimes,

00:41in fact often, they seem quite expensive. Is this really a cheaper way for people to shop?

00:47No, absolutely not. It is a very fair way for people to shop and I think that that

00:52is what people are looking for. I think that part of the fuss that has been with the supermarkets

00:58is that people are not getting good value but when they are buying directly from the farmers

01:03they're quite happy to pay whatever it is that we need to be able to continue doing business

01:09and growing food. With your concept, are there times of the year, and you can see your beautiful

01:14background behind you, are there times of the year where you're limited to being able to provide just

01:19a few different things that are in season? Obviously supermarkets have pretty much everything

01:24anyone can want in the one place. We certainly don't have the acres of cold storage and

01:30gassing preservation methods that the supermarkets are able to access, so yes seasonality is a

01:35feature, however seasonality has been a feature of the food landscape for thousands and thousands

01:41of years and perhaps we should go back that way. The major supermarkets also have been in the

01:47spotlight a bit lately, accused of price gouging and they were forced to front a senate inquiry

01:51pretty recently as well. Has that helped you? Have you seen more people buying through your system?

01:58To be really honest, we haven't. We hit a huge bump in COVID because everyone was sitting on

02:04their couches and learning how to experiment with recipes and trying the local food that we were

02:10able to get to them during COVID. I believe that the stresses of the mortgage rates going up

02:18and the cost of living has, you know, a lot of people are buying direct from Aldi during the

02:23click and collect. We have got our customer base very, very solidified with the people who are

02:32committed to looking after their health or committed to getting back to the basics, I think.

02:38The people who are very busy and perhaps don't have the time to stop and think about

02:43is this really, does it really fit with my principles and ethics and how I want to live?

02:49Not yet. Okay, we've heard a bit lately as well about how farmers might have to sign

02:56pretty difficult contracts with some of the major supermarkets at times.

03:01How does this concept benefit growers in particular?

03:04Oh boy, it's a very big conversation. The supermarkets have got a lot of power,

03:10that growers can enter into these contracts, perhaps, I wouldn't say under duress, but

03:18the way that they have for the last few generations been farming puts them into

03:22situations sometimes where they have very low profit margins and they don't have many options.