Hungarian watermelon growers have postponed a planned protest and free watermelon distribution after recent talks with retailers gave them hope that a dispute over low supermarket prices can be resolved through negotiations, MTI reported.
Last week, domestic watermelon growers asked small-scale retail chains to form a partnership; their goal was to prevent the chains from drastically and unjustifiably lowering the price of the crop and to encourage them to prioritize Hungarian produce over imports, Magyar Nemzet reported. The Hungarian Watermelon Growers’ Association said that despite support from the National Chamber of Agriculture (NAK) and the FruitVeB Hungarian Interprofessional Organization for Fruit and Vegetables, PENNY Market and Tesco ignored its initial call for retailers to cooperate with domestic producers.
Photo: Pixabay
In the online promotional listings for the coming week
PENNY Market will offer watermelons to its customers at a gross consumer price of 155 Ft/kg,
while Tesco will offer them at 159 Ft/kg.
These promotional prices are a good way to lure customers, but they ruin farmers. The Hungarian Watermelon Growers’ Association deeply condemns this market behavior and intends to protest vehemently against the publication and implementation of these promotional offers.
Photo: Pexels
Therefore, with the support of the Hungarian Watermelon Growers’ Association, FruitVeB, and NAK, a protest event featuring “free watermelon distribution” was planned on the morning of Wednesday, July 15, in the vicinity of the PENNY Market Logistics Center in Alsónémedi. They were hoping to attract as many farmers and supporters as possible to the event.
According to the latest information,
The Hungarian Watermelon Growers’ Association is confident that market disruptions can be resolved through negotiations, and has therefore postponed the protest rally scheduled for Wednesday.
Based on recent discussions, the association “sees a good chance” that the difficulties in melon distribution will be resolved through dialogue. Producers are doing everything they can to ensure the smooth operation of the supply chain and are always striving for cooperation to this end. They will refrain from holding demonstrations as long as there is a chance to reconcile the views of all parties through negotiations, they wrote.
FactIn Hungary, approximately 1,500 families are engaged in watermelon cultivation; annual per capita consumption is 10–12 kilograms of watermelon and 1.5 kilograms of cantaloupe. This year, watermelons are being grown on roughly 3,480 hectares in the country. Following the arrival of greenhouse-grown watermelons, domestically grown open-field watermelons began appearing on the market in small quantities in early July, and as of this week, they are now available in stores nationwide.
Via Magyar Nemzet, MTI; Featured photo: Pixabay