Why this Aussie farmer has thrown in the towel as he sends a brutal message to Coles and Woolworths

A fed-up farmer who criticized Coles and Woolworths over rising prices has stopped growing vegetables because he is fed up with being ‘ripped off’ under the Anthony Albanese government.

Ross Marsolino, 62, made headlines in 2023 when he criticized the supermarket giants for the huge profit margin between the wholesale prices they pay for products and the fees charged to customers.

Now Mr Marsolino has had enough and announces that his Victorian farm, Natural Earth Produce, will no longer produce aubergines, courgettes and Roma tomatoes.

The grower claimed he didn’t get his fair share after Coles tripled the price they paid for it.

“I refuse to sell vegetables knowing that the product has ended up in their stores and that I have been defrauded,” Mr Marsolino told the newspaper. Herald Sun.

‘Why would I sell zucchini for €1.50 to €2 per kilo? Coles is currently selling courgettes for €5.90 per kilo.

‘Nothing has happened and it won’t change – not as long as we have a Labor government.’

Mr Marsolino has massively scaled back his activities and now employs only two people instead of 150. He is now going to grow alfalfa, a crop used for animal feed, precisely to avoid having to deal with the large supermarkets.

The grower claimed this week he was not getting his fair share after Coles (pictured) increased the price of its courgettes by as much as $4.40 per kilo

A Coles spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia that Mr Marsolino is not and never has been a supplier to the supermarket.

“We work with all our fresh produce suppliers to make clear agreements on volumes prior to the season and work closely with them to ensure a fair and competitive market price,” they said in a statement.

‘It should be noted that the sales price also includes additional costs such as transportation and distribution throughout the country, in addition to operational costs such as energy, insurance, labor and leasing.’

Mr Marsolino previously told Daily Mail Australia he had been forced to abandon an 80 hectare courgette crop due to low demand for the vegetable.

‘If they were sold for €2.99 per kilo instead of €4.99 per kilo, everyone would buy courgettes. But there is not enough return,” he said.

‘The supermarkets must sell a fairer amount. Plain and simple.”

He urged Mr Albanese in 2023 to set up a supervisory body to monitor price gouging by supermarkets.

“There needs to be some sort of monitoring of the way the retail chains price their products, reporting when farmers are not getting enough in return to make their farms profitable,” he said.

Mr Marsolino has given up vegetable growing to focus on alfalfa, a crop used for animal feed, so he does not have to deal with large supermarkets (his farm is pictured)

Mr Marsolino previously told Daily Mail Australia he had been forced to abandon an 80 hectare courgette crop due to low demand for the vegetable at Coles and Woolworths (pictured)

National Party leader David Littleproud said farmers had ‘understandable enough’.

“Labor has been too slow to act, forcing farmers like Ross to leave the sector,” he told the Herald Sun this week.

‘There will be no practical changes for our farmers and supermarkets until April this year. The cost of living crisis for families and farmers is now, not in April.”

A new mandatory code of conduct for food and grocery products will come into force on April 1, aimed at tackling the power imbalance between suppliers and supermarkets.

Australia’s four major supermarket chains, Woolworths, Coles, Aldi and IGA parent Metcash, had already signed the code, which has remained voluntary since its introduction in 2015.

Supermarkets could face huge fines of up to $10 million under new recommendations made in a review of the code.

The review came after public outrage that supermarket giants failed to pass on the savings to shelf prices, forcing consumers and producers to pay more.

Coles made a profit of $1.13 billion in the 2023/24 financial year, while Woolworths had an operating profit of $1.7 billion.