By Jeremy Cook
Granite Belt growers have been urged to gear up for a negotiating masterclass next month which organisers hope will help “level the playing field” between farmers and big retailers.
The free masterclass will be led by industry insiders with experience in negotiating for retailers and has been designed to upskill growers in their commercial dealings so they can maximise their bottom line.
Delivered by Queensland Fruit and Vegetable Growers, the workshop forms part of a collective statewide effort to build growers into the most equipped negotiators in the country.
Under QFVG’s state government-funded “Geared Up Growers” program, the free two-day masterclass will tour the state’s largest growing regions over the next seven weeks, coming to Stanthorpe on 16 July at a specific location yet to be confirmed.
Granite Belt Growers Association Industry Support Officer Narissa Corfe said the classes directly responded to issues raised at recent federal and state parliamentary supermarket inquiries.
In its final report, Queensland’s Supermarket Pricing Select Committee found a “significant imbalance in market power between the major supermarkets and smaller suppliers” due to things like limited access to market data and high levels of supermarket concentration.
“One of the big problems with the power imbalance is that a lot of these larger retailers are aware [of] what they’re up against, that there’s a time crunch,” Ms Corfe said.
“Things are picked one day, they’re packed the next day, and they need to be on a truck sort of within that period,“ she said.
“The problem with a perishable item is that if you don’t agree with the price being put in front of you, and your retailer won’t budge, they can always go down the road and get another price.
“If you can’t sell it on, it’s going to perish.”
Ms Corfe said the masterclasses could be key in helping growers “understand the inner workings of what drives the way some of the bargaining agents do things”.
QFVG chief executive Rachel Chambers said the workshops aim to reduce the power imbalance between farmers and supermarkets.
“We know there is a significant power imbalance when it comes to price negotiations for fresh produce,” she said.
“We are going to use insiders to teach our growers the tricks of the trade and can almost guarantee each grower will find something in this course that allows them to save a dollar and earn a dollar, because right now this is what Queensland growers need.
Ms Chamber said the squeeze on profit margins was the number issue all growers were grappling with.
“They know their business better than anyone … now we are just arming them with the knowledge they’ve needed to level the playing field.
To deliver the workshops, QFVG will partner with negotiation training masters NextGen Group.
“There is no ‘silver bullet’ but there are skills and behaviours that can materially shift the needle in the negotiation process,” NextGen Group Director Neil Rechlin said.
“These practical workshops and the follow-up support provided will help growers understand how retailers, agents, and suppliers think and how to leverage the Grocery Code and Horticulture Code to create a commercial advantage in negotiations.”
