Supermarkets ‘squeezing us until the pips squeak’ says apple grower

A VETERAN West Country fruit farmer has called time on his decades-long relationship with the UK's biggest supermarkets, accusing them of double standards and driving producers to the brink.

- LEWIS CLARKE

Jonathan Hoskyns, a third generation apple grower at North Perrott Fruit Farm near Crewkerne

Jonathan Hoskyns, a third-generation apple grower at North Perrott Fruit Farm near Crewkerne, said rising production costs and stagnant supermarket prices made supplying retailers “impossible to make a profit”.

The 61-year-old has now stopped supplying supermarkets entirely, instead focusing on selling locally and turning his harvest into apple juice in a bid to keep the family business viable. Jonathan, whose family has farmed in the area since the 1930s, began growing for supermarkets in the 1980s. He said the market had become increasingly punishing for small producers.