Angry potato growers disrupt Tesco meeting in Ashbourne

Tesco has agreed to meet representatives of potato farmers from across the north-east following a protest at a meeting of Tesco"s Irish supermarket managers in Ashbourne yesterday (Tuesday). Frustrated potato farmers from across Meath, Louth, Dublin and some from Donegal burst into the meeting of Tesco managers in the Marriott Hotel in Ashbourne to protest at what they claim is misleading of the consumer by Tesco. The farmers had failed to secure a meeting with Tesco before yesterday"s action. The potato producers complain that Tesco is packing and selling imported potatoes, and using bags similar to those that they carry their Irish produce in. 'What we are worried about is job security,' Thomas Carpenter, a producer from Kells, said. 'The major concern in this country at the moment is preserving jobs. There are a lot of jobs in the potato industry, from where we buy our inputs to where we sell on to distributors for preparing for shops. These all need to be protected, as well as our own.' Tesco, he added, was not giving any better value to the consumer, but was only increasing its own margins, he believed. The supermarket chain was misleading the consumer, using Irish-generated packaging to sell imported products, even if they were marking it as made in the UK, he added. Referring to the issue of cross-border shopping, Mr Carpenter asked what was the difference between going across the border and shopping in Newry and shopping in a Tesco store in Dundalk where the monies are still going to imports and out of the country. 'The bottom line is that Irish jobs and Irish produce needs to be protected,' he said. Commenting on potato growers" action, IFA president Padraig Walshe said he was not surprised by the action on the ground as it reflected the deep anger over the retail giant"s decision to displace local, quality produce with imports. 'Growers cannot stay in business because of Tesco"s ruthless pursuit of profit and market share,' he said. 'The persistent pressure on the price paid to the producer will inevitably lead to thousands of job losses and will put Irish producers of local, fresh produce out of business.'