The Xmas Give Away

[nicebloke1]

Supermarkets giving away vegtables. Asda from 8p per bag, others at 15p? Farmers being ripped off do you think?

[Khandro]

The Supermarkets are not agents for farmers, they are retailers. The produce will have been already paid for, so any loss on these vegetables will be borne by them, not the farmers.

[chelle7272]

Most main supermarkets have been doing christmas veg at vastly reduced prices for years. The last few years it has been 16p per bag. 

The supermarkets take the losses hit in December, though I suppose there is an argument this means less anually for farmers. 

[Rosie29]

Farmers are ripped off anyway.  Supermarkets just trying to squeeze the last few pence from us on stuff they wont sell.

[davebro3]

Lidl have been selling boxes of mixed veg at giveaway prices for ages. Better that than it going to waste.

[nicebloke1]

Are the farmers just growing to much, more than what we need, leading to waste?

[DDIL]

The farmers get shafted by the supermarkets all the time but the loss you are talking about will be borne by the supermarkets.

The farmers need to grow extra because the supermarkets will not take 'imperfect' produce.

[naomi24]

Supermarkets have been doing this for years.  They recoup their losses on other sales.

[Barmaid]

It's a loss leader for them.  They stack it high and sell it cheap in the hope they get footfall through the doors and having got veg for next to nothing, the hope is you spend money on over-priced stuff on which they make serious money.

[nicebloke1]

^ When every supermarket is doing it, that loss leader dont work, in fact you could say that they are all shooting themselves in the foot? Now if only one was doing it, then yes that would be a smart move.

[naomi24]

Of course it works.  If it didn't they wouldn't be doing it.  All supermarkets have their regular customers who don't shop anywhere else - not even for a cheap bag of carrots.

[chelle7272]

Not necessarily. If they match each other on loss leaders they don't lose regular customers to other stores. 

[nicebloke1]

The idea is to attract more customers? ^ and to get them to buy the more expensive products, so the experts say anyhow?

[Old_Geezer]

No point in having it rot unsold over Xmas.

[gingejbee]

Last year, my local Waitrose was giving bags of vegetables away (free) when they opened on the 27th.

During the year, they give away bunches of flowers to regular customers...flowers that would otherwise be dumped (because of their dates).