Cost of living: Steeply rising costs threaten to put organic food producers out of business

When Sue McMillan announced in July that she was closing her farm shop near Ballaghaderreen, Co Roscommon, there was a sudden rush of orders, so she gave the business an eight-week reprieve, delighted at this evidence of continuing demand for organic food.

“I always say use us or lose us,” said the business woman who moved from the UK to the west of Ireland in 2004. She will decide in coming weeks whether she can keep Ballagh Farm Shop open, at least until Christmas.

“We are still teetering,” stressed McMillan who had started selling her homegrown vegetables “over the garden wall” at the start of the 2020 lockdown, before opening the shop, a “12 foot by six foot shed” in her garden that August.

Earlier this year ‘footfall collapsed’ as people started agonising about the state of their finances

She was soon inundated with customers, delighted with her range of organic produce supplemented by cheeses, meats, home baking and jams from other local artisan producers. But earlier this year “footfall collapsed” as people started agonising about the state of their finances.

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“Easter was good. We got to late April/May and then we thought, ‘Where have they all gone?’ We have always had a solid 10 to 14 people coming week in, week out, but everyone else disappeared.”

Like a lot of artisan producers, McMillan attributes this abrupt shift in shopping habits to the cost-of-living crisis, which means many people can no longer afford to pay for the peace of mind that buying organic brings to those worried about where their food comes from.

“People hadn’t got the money and the squeeze was coming – and that squeeze has carried on,” she said.

McMillan also attributes her clients’ switch from farm shop to supermarkets to a change in routine as people have been returning to workplaces and their pre-Covid 19 regimes.

‘Gosh, that’s expensive’

“People had gone back to their old norm. And also people were saying to us, ‘Gosh, that’s expensive,’“ said the vegetable grower, who acknowledges price rises are affecting everyone, not least organic producers like herself.

Just over a month ago, Bríd Tiernan from Aughrim, Co Roscommon, gave up her stalls at both Boyle and Roscommon farmers’ markets after 17 years of selling organic eggs at both venues.

Bríd and her husband Pádraig, who run Pollnamaughill organic farm where they also raise sheep and cattle, will for the moment continue to attend Carrick-on-Shannon weekly market. But a massive hike in the price of organic feed for their hens has forced them to reassess the viability of their egg business. That and increases in the price of egg boxes, labels and fuel meant they could no longer sell their eggs at a price within the reach of many people.

[ Price hikes will leave many households €4,000 worse off by end of year ]

“Lockdown was actually very good for business, as people felt safer doing outdoor shopping,” explained Bríd, who said click-and-collect also suited those who wanted minimum contact with others during the early stages of Covid-19.

But recent price hikes have made her customers tighten their purse strings, and when the bill for feed for her hens rose to €1,025 a month, compared to €600 four years ago, Bríd reluctantly dropped two of her three regular farmers’ markets.

The size of her flock has now dropped from 280 hens last year to about 130 at present.

When the Tiernans were forced to raise their price from €6 to €7 a dozen, some of their customers admitted they would be buying their eggs in the local supermarket for the foreseeable future.

“People tell us they just can’t afford it and there is no doubt, they are genuine,” said Bríd. But given her own increased costs, she said they had no choice but to increase the price. “Otherwise we would just have been fools, busy fools,” she said.

‘Heartbreaking’

After 17 years doing business in the Boyle farmers’ market where she forged close friendships with other stall-holders and with customers, it was a huge wrench to give it up. “It’s really raw,” she said. “It was heartbreaking. That was every Saturday of my life for 17 years. And you feel you are letting people down, too.”

But the reality is that fewer people were going to farmers’ markets now because of the cost of diesel and the rising prices, she said.

Fynn Hopper has been a loyal attender of Carrick-on-Shannon market for a long time now, and as an organic farmer himself, finds it hard to contemplate buying bread and cheese in the supermarket. But as the cost-of-living crisis bites, he might soon have no choice.

Two years ago, Fynn and his wife Holly moved with their three children, Kimball, Noomi and Iduna, from inner city Hull in England, to the top of Kilronan mountain overlooking the Arigna valley in Co Roscommon.

Attracted by the idea of reducing their carbon footprint, they embraced a more self-sufficient lifestyle and from the beginning Fynn, a former mental health nurse, was milking goats and selling milk and eggs at the farm gate, while Holly started a weaving business from the spare bedroom.

The couple have an electric car and Holly‘s main mode of transport is a three-wheel bike which she uses to ferry the three children around the valley. But the electric car may soon have to go.

The Hoppers recently expanded their operation, Heathbank Farm, leasing another 50 acres of land near the village of Ballyfarnan, from where they produce organic pork, lamb and beef. But there have been a few reality checks thanks to soaring prices.

“I think we will sell the electric car,” said Fynn, who because he doesn’t have a tractor or a quad, has invested in a Jeep which doubles as his workshop.

“I can’t really justify having the electric car just sat there, not being used,” he said. “We could do with the money and we can’t afford to keep the two cars going.”

Fewer travelling

He has noticed that since the price of diesel rose, there are fewer people travelling to the farm to buy his goats’ milk and free range eggs.

“A few people have been asking us would we be able to deliver or sell in the local shop, because they cannot afford the journey now,” he explained.

‘More people have been asking can we do individual cuts as they cannot afford to spend €140 at one time’

Fynn has since last year been producing 10kg boxes of organic lamb, beef, or pork, which can be delivered by courier nationwide in biodegradable, insulated boxes, but in recent months orders have been slowing down.

“More people have been asking can we do individual cuts as they cannot afford to spend €140 at one time,” he explained.

His clientele includes people who are very conscious of animal welfare, as well as those who want to eat organic food and also local people who go out of their way to support a neighbour.

But he expects many of these will be forced by deteriorating financial circumstances to think twice about where they shop in the months ahead.

“Even for ourselves we would go to the farmers’ market in Carrick every week, to buy bread and cheese because we want to support local producers but I think we might have to go to Lidl soon for some of those things. The way things are going, organic food will be a luxury,” he said.

Michael Fogarty, who recently took over Beechpark Eco Farm in Clonsilla, Dublin 15, says organic growers such as him have to adapt and be realistic about the financial strain customers are under.

“Obviously I have to balance the books but there is no point in having crops you can’t sell either.”

Seasonal crops

He says that by selling seasonal crops and staying away from imported produce, some prices can be kept down.

“A lot of organic producers import from Holland and other places. It sort of defeats the purpose. My goal is to be seasonal. Why would you eat strawberries in December?”

Michael says prices for a lot of organic food is now “just off the charts. And I can understand why people wouldn’t buy it.”

Michael is a native of Dundee in Scotland, who also runs a restaurant. He says cost-of-living pressures are hitting all types of businesses and not just the organic sector.

“We see it in the restaurant. People go out for a really special occasion. It’s not a weekly occurrence now, more like once every six weeks.”

But while people are suffering with “gas and electric through the roof”, he says, they do care about how their food is produced. “We tell them all we use is water and hard work – no chemicals at all.”

‘If you can get a bag of carrots for 49 cent in the supermarket and get a bunch of carrots from us for €2, where are you going to go?’

Sue McMillan believes people know the difference between organic food and what they buy in the supermarkets.

“But if you can get a bag of carrots for 49 cent in the supermarket and get a bunch of carrots from us for €2, where are you going to go?” she said. “Now our carrots are a completely different beast but at the end of the day people can only spend what they have got.

Worried about winter

“Some people will mix it and buy their carrots and potatoes from me and buy other things in the supermarket.”

Like a lot of people, she is worried about the winter ahead.

“I am very worried about higher electricity charges and I am worried about the cost of heating this winter and how that will affect all people’s lives, us included,” she said.

“It will be a fairly difficult autumn and winter, I think.”