Supermarkets Under Fire: Are Farmers Getting a Raw Deal?

Cornwall MPs Join Call for Fairer Prices and Transparency

Anna Gelderd, MP for South East Cornwall, is among 46 Labour MPs urging the UK’s biggest supermarkets to offer farmers a fairer deal. The MPs, including Noah Law, MP for St Austell and Newquay, and Perran Moon, MP for Camborne and Redruth, have written to the ‘big six’ supermarkets, calling for better pricing, improved transparency in product labelling, and an end to misleading marketing practices that harm British agriculture.

Farmers Struggling While Supermarkets Profit

The MPs raised concerns that farmers often receive as little as 1p profit per food item, while supermarkets collectively made over £5 billion in pre-tax profits last year. They argue that this imbalance is forcing many farmers to rely on government subsidies just to stay afloat.

“This has been going on for years, and has been left unchallenged for too long,” said Anna. “It can’t be seen as right or fair that farmers often receive 1p profit from the food items they produce, whilst at the same time supermarkets are making excessive profits.”

Concerns Over ‘Farmwashing’

The letter also takes aim at ‘farmwashing’, where misleading labels give consumers the impression that food is locally sourced when it is actually imported or produced by large industrial farms. The MPs say this misleads shoppers and damages the reputation of British agriculture.

Cornwall’s MPs Back the Farming Community

Anna, Noah, and Perran have joined Labour colleagues from across England, Scotland, and Wales in demanding change. They want supermarkets to:

• Ensure fairer pricing so farmers receive a just share of profits
• Improve transparency in product labelling to prevent misleading claims
• Support British farmers by recognising their role in food sustainability

“Supermarkets are claiming to support UK farmers, but their actions suggest otherwise,” said Anna. “Farmers deserve a fair deal, and consumers deserve honesty and transparency.”

With Cornwall’s MPs backing the call for change, the pressure is now on the supermarkets—will they step up, or continue to put profits before British farmers?

Read the Letter in PDF Format.