An Alice Springs grape grower claims he has been forced to close his business after the standards and accreditation set by the country's two major supermarkets became "unachievable".
Richie Hayes started Rocky Hill Table Grapes on a "great horticulture block" at Undoolya in 2002, from which he supplied green seedless grapes to supermarkets in every state and territory of Australia, except Western Australia.
Ultimately Hayes said he was wasting up to 70 per cent of his edible fruit because it wouldn't meet their standards.
Coles and Woolworths insist they continue to prioritise sourcing fresh fruit from Australian farmers with specifications and variations around fruit dependent on market and weather conditions.
Hayes sold about 700 to 1000 tonnes of fruit from 150 acres each year.
The business was initially "quite lucrative" but as the years went on, Hayes claims, accreditation from major supermarkets became so stringent that he was "lucky to cover costs".
"The amount of fruit that hit the ground that was palatable, beautiful fruit but it just didn't meet size or colour," Hayes said.
"The fruit had to be grown bigger every year to make the standard for what they (the supermarkets) wanted."
He said they had to grow the fruit big to look "like a lolly" but it "tasted terrible".
He claimed his costs tripled while trying to meet the specifications but the price supermarkets were paying for the fruit decreased.
The business was a price taker, meaning it could not dictate its price and was at the mercy of Coles and Woolworths, who began paying less for the fruit.
"There's nothing wrong with an audit but it was just audits on top of audits," Hayes said.
Another challenge Hayes said he faced was competing with imports.
He said his fruit was being rejected but international grapes were being put on shelves.
"There was American fruit in Coles and Woolies in Alice Springs in December," Hayes said.
He claims internationally imported fruit didn't face the same accreditation he did.
After COVID-19 caused further complications, Hayes closed the business in March 2021, which at its peak employed 140 people.
His brothers bought back the land to turn it into cattle country.
Rocky Hill Table Grapes was not a direct supplier to Woolworths or Coles but used a major supplier to distribute its fruit.
A Coles spokesperson said it strived to meet customers' expectations when it came to quality produce.
"When entering agreements with our growers, we decide on specifications ahead of time," the spokesperson said.
"We assess all produce for eating quality, ripeness, pest damage, appearance and expected customer home shelf life, and are deeply committed to balancing this with reducing food waste.
"At times we will vary specifications after extreme weather as a way to support our suppliers, continue supply for consumers and reduce food waste.
"In the last financial year, Coles has sold more than 20,000 tonnes of fruit and vegetables in the I'm Perfect range and returned more than $37 million to our suppliers.
"At Coles, we have an Australia First Sourcing Policy, where more than 96 per cent of fresh produce by volume is sourced from Australian suppliers."
A Woolworths spokesperson said it was proud to work with farmers who helped bring the best of Australian fresh produce to its stores.
"We work collaboratively with growers to vary our specifications based on market, growing conditions and weather events," the spokesperson said.
"Hundreds of variations are approved every year - for example, bananas were recently impacted by weather events, and we explained to customers why they may see more blemishes on the fruit."
Supermarket inquiry
A Senate inquiry has heard the big supermarkets are abusing their power and should be broken up before there is a "societal breakdown".
A committee in Melbourne is currently looking into the market power and food pricing practices of Australia's major supermarkets amid the current cost-of-living crisis.
The inquiry heard Australia's big supermarkets were putting farmers out of business and placing undue pressure on customers.
Michael Crisera from Fruit Growers Victoria said more than one-third of vegetable growers were considering leaving the industry and felt they were being squeezed out.
"This is not sustainable, current codes of conduct are not working," he told the inquiry.
A final report on the major supermarkets will be handed to the government on May 7.
