Australia's McCain Foods -- which boosted imports of processed potato from New Zealand and Canada by $A44 million ($NZ57 milliom) last year -- has told growers on that side of the Tasman it requires 10 percent LESS potatoes for the 2010-11 season and want
Australia's McCain Foods -- which boosted imports of processed potato from New Zealand and Canada by $A44 million ($NZ57 milliom) last year -- has told growers on that side of the Tasman it requires 10 percent LESS potatoes for the 2010-11 season and wants to cut the price by $A45 per tonne.
The cuts may be spread over two seasons, the Weekly Times newspaper reported in Melbourne.
McCain Ballarat Growers Group chairman Dominic Prendergast said growers were shocked by the request, as they had taken a $A35 a tonne cut in spring last year, when prices were negotiated and contracts set for 2009-10.
A meeting of growers at Ballarat, in Victoria, last week rejected McCain's proposal, and Mr Prendergast said a $A45 a tonne drop in price to $A255 a tonne would leave growers unable to cover the cost of production.
McCain Foods has reportedly lost a contract to supply potatoes, equivalent to 15,000 tonnes of french fries, to fast food chain Hungry Jack's.
Victorian Potato Growers Council executive officer Laura Bowles said it appeared Hungry Jack's was now buying most of its french fries from Canadian supplier Lamb Weston.
"We are at a point where growing processing potatoes will not be viable for growers in Australia next year if we continue to lose market share to imports," Ms Bowles said.
Ballarat grower spokesman Norm Suckling told the ABC that farmers could not make money from such low prices.
"The industry is in very dire trouble," he said. "I just wonder if it's sustainable with any more price cuts, considering the costs and everything going up the way they are."
