Anger as Coles in home of the Big Banana to drop local bananas
In the home of the Big Banana, local farmers say it is a "kick in the guts" to have supermarket giant Coles end an agreement to supply locally grown fresh produce to stores in the region.
Instead, the bananas on the shelves of the Coles supermarket in Coffs Harbour are now expected to largely come from North Queensland.
"The fruit is going to travel 1,600 kilometres compared to six," Coffs Harbour and District Banana Growers Association secretary-treasurer Mick Gentle said.
"[It] just doesn't make sense."
Coles supermarkets in Coffs Harbour have always sourced some fruit and vegetables, including bananas, within a 10-kilometre radius of their stores. (ABC Coffs Coast: Claire Simmonds)
Until now, producers in the region have sent their fruit and vegetables directly to supermarkets through agreements involving wholesaler Golden Dawn.
Coles initially flagged its intention to exit from the agreement a year ago.
In correspondence seen by the ABC, Coles said the decision was "part of a broader strategic shift [to simplify their] supply chain and focus on a smaller number of strategic partnerships".
In a statement, a Coles spokesperson said: "We regularly review our supply chain to ensure we are delivering the best value, quality and availability for our customers."
Disappointing decision
Mr Gentle said the decision threatened the sustainability of the industry on the Coffs Coast.
"My mind struggles to think what Coffs Harbour might be without bananas one day," he said.
"It's really scary that Coffs might lose its iconic banana."
Mick Gentle is concerned about the industry's future. (Supplied: Mick Gentle)
Coffs Harbour banana grower Dominic Canale said it would take time to determine how much of an effect the exit of Coles would have on the industry in the region.
"We will know more come summer," he said.
"I'm hoping not too much needs to go down in the markets in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane because you always get a lot less of a return when they go [there]."
Dominic Canale wants to secure a path in the industry for his children. (Supplied: Dominic Canale)
The fourth-generation farmer said he was not planning on leaving the industry.
"I'd love for the kids to have the opportunity to take on the farm in the future too," Mr Canale said.
"If Woolies takes on a bit more for us of what Coles have stopped [taking], we should be fine, but I don't know; things change all the time."
Australia's banana industry is worth $1.3 billion. (ABC Rural: Sophie Johnson)
Golden Dawn declined to comment.
Supplier crunch
NSW Farmers spokesperson and banana farmer Paul Shoker said the decision by Coles would affect up to 40 local families, despite the fact that Woolworths would continue to stock produce from the Coffs Coast.
"Those two supermarkets combined nationally sell 70 per cent of the fresh produce market, so if you haven't got access to half of that 70 per cent, it just means … businesses have uncertainty," he said.
"That's a big hit to our industry, and it's not something that we can create a new market [for] over 12 months."
Paul Shoker is calling on Coles to reconsider the move. (ABC News: Charles Rushforth)
Mr Shoker said bananas at Coles stores in the region would most likely come from north Queensland.
"It just means that we won't see locally grown bananas at Coles supermarkets," he said.
"There's plenty of local produce here to go around and … it's a shame to see we aren't utilising that."
KioskNews shows a cleaned-up reading view extracted from the publisher’s page — the original always lives on their site, not ours.