Conventional retailers and the organic sector

It’s possible that the supermarket concept evolved during the Great Depression. “Pile high, sell low” was the strategy of King Kullen, a famous New York grocer during the 1930s. Since that time, supermarkets have merged within our contemporary economy where they have been been both popularised and demonised. From the perspective of many consumers, supermarkets provide an essential vehicle for reliable convenience and access to organic groceries and fresh produce. Alternatively, there are traditionalists who fear the influence of large organisations and the pressures of economic rationalisation which may be exerted within the general agricultural and organic agricultural sectors.

A fundamental complaint against established supermarkets is their ability to restrict competition according to their combined purchasing strengths, discount pricing, and significantly reduced labour costs. It’s extremely difficult for small operators to consistently match these overall levels of price, quality, and service. Of course, the supermarket’s advantage depends on extremely narrow operating margins throughout their entire supply chain. This also results in difficult choices and compromises for those farmers and other business operators who negotiate their annual contracts with the highly centralised and cost conscious administrations.

Depending on the size and scale of their operation, it’s not uncommon for supermarket chains to source their fresh produce from wholly dedicated and subsidiary farms. For the purposes of this discussion, wholly dedicated refers to primary producers with contractual obligations to supply significant quantities consistent to an agreed standard. Subsidiary farms are effectively owned by the supermarket which thereby exercises control of quality management and accreditation resources. In those situations where a supermarket promotes its own organically certified range of produce, there is potential for conflict with external certification authorities and other regulatory bodies.

Leading organic certification authorities are frequently compelled to speak or lobby on behalf of constituent producers. On occassions, an institution like the Soil Association will address specific concerns of small scale organic producers with widespread utilisation of public sympathy through their media resources. For example, there are valid fears that supermarkets have the capacity to marginalise local growers when they import organically certified produce from abroad.

The negative aspects of an unrestricted importation policy may include income exploitation for impoverished workers, often accompanied by the absence or greatly reduced influence of external and independent certification schedules. From the perspective of certification authorities, it’s the absence of organic farming standards and protocol which must eventually contribute to significant decreases in the overall quality and nutritional value of the foods being offered to local consumers. There’s also a range of ecologically based arguments which oppose the lack of energy efficiency in relation to common forms of bulk storage, handling, and transportation over vast distances.

Representatives of major supermarket conglomerates tend to dismiss most of the above criticisms as simplistic or narrow minded utopianism. They refer to the inevitability of global economy and clearly prefer to position themselves as agents of consumer choice while maintaining their marketing strategies of broad inclusion. Upon entering the mainstream retail environment, organics is no longer perceived as elitist or the exclusive province of sandal wearing fanatics. This is acceptable for the average individual who wishes to combine a range of organically certified and standard foods within their weekly budget.

The conclusion rests with the consumer. As larger percentages of the population become familiar with organic food and the principles behind its production, there’s an ever increasing trend to rationalise the output capacity. This generally means pursuing levels of agricultural specialisation which result in efficiencies of scale. Rather than a traditional organic model of mixed farming, the supermarkets will ultimately support the progression towards monoculture. Of course there are risks involved. To offset these, however, there is high probability that larger volumes of safe and healthy foods will be generated into the future.