Farmers fail to tap into markets
Published:Monday | July 12, 2010 | 12:00 AM
Laura Redpath, Gleaner Writer
A MISSED connection between Hi-Lo Food Stores and a local farmer left his sweet corn to rot in the ground before it could be reaped as he struggled to find a market for the crop.
The supermarket chain says it has a market for the vegetable and would have been willing to buy from the farmer instead of selling imported sweet corn found on its shelves.
This is just one issue within the agricultural sector that has been raised by supermarket represen-tatives who are in direct contact with customers.
"Consumers prefer local goods. We would have bought from (the farmer)," said Yvonne Gingoor, store manager at Hi-Lo Cross Roads in St Andrew, her eyes wide with disbelief.
The St Thomas farmer, who was specialising in sweet corn, gave up on running his own farm as a result of marketing problems and moved on to working for someone else.
Meeting consumer demands is challenging for both supermarkets and farmers.
Gingoor and Andrea Coy, Hi-Lo's general manager, agreed that consistency within the market was a big challenge.
"Prices go sky high when produce becomes scarce. I think the (agricultural) sector needs to be developed," Coy said.
She suggested the sector should facilitate a consistent and organised supply for the market, which would be supported by better com-munication and management of the farmers.
At a different supermarket in St Andrew, Elsa Rowe, of Fresh Produce's Purchasing Department, supports this view.
"(The market) is hard to balance. Farmers are disappointed when they plant and there is no market," she said.
"They lose when there is no market."
Garth Phipps, Loshusan Supermarket supervisor, said food stores were unable to predict consumer demand as customers were not consistent in their shopping.
"At no time can we get it right," he said. "This week, we'll have customers and next week that number goes down.
"Sometimes we have too much (produce), sometimes too little."
With inconsistent supply and demand, and disappointment all around, customers are left to struggle when they can't find what they're looking for.
A consumer, who wished to remain unnamed, perused the produce section at Fresh Produce for a few minutes, her brow knitted as her eyes darted across the options.
"Normally, they have fresh stuff on Wednesday," she said, "but it doesn't look like things have come in yet. Right now, I'm looking for something fresh."
Obtaining fresh goods regularly is another hurdle that supermarkets face as they sort through what can be sold and what has to be thrown out.
"The yams are sometimes full of worms. We can't get cho cho right now, and the onions are not good," Gingoor said.