A spasm of anger and upset emerged on May 19 when a meeting of Irish Tesco executives in Ashbourne Co. Meath was stormed by an angry group of potato farmers.
The farmers were seething about the import and sale of English spuds into the Irish version of Tesco.
A heated protest ensued and calls were made for Sir Terry Leahy, Tesco CEO who was over from London, to step forward and answer questions. Wise man that he is, he didn’t venture forth to answer the angry farmers, - it was left to other Tesco execs to try and placate the furious farmers.
After the restructuring of 11 border Tesco stores in the South, to combat the shopping haemorrhage to the North, fears are growing for Irish suppliers. Price cuts, which are being funded by importing branded goods directly from the UK instead of using local distribution channels, are expected to be introduced in the company’s other stores in the coming months.
Sources say Tesco’s demands are likely to cause job losses in a sector already reeling from the effects of the recession and cut-throat competition.
Perhaps there could be more trouble ahead for the supermarket behemoth.
