Ben Ryan, chair of the IGA National Board representing about 1,400 independent grocery stores across Australia, has called for an end to discount prices in the major supermarket chains.

“Enough is enough,” Ryan said. “While being able to buy cheap milk and bread from a major supermarket has appealed to many consumers, people don’t understand the long term impact on Australian manufacturers and farmers. The marketing war between the major chains has caused unrealistic and unsustainable price deflation of major staples like bread and milk.”

Ryan said the national chains announcing they would now take their marketing war to the convenience market would put further pressure on small businesses around the country. “Small business is about being local, buying local and supporting local producers, manufacturers and farmers,” he said.

“Small businesses find it almost impossible to compete on a level playing field when the big national grocery chains behave like predators. If a small business loses money it goes under, if a store in a large national chain loses money it is amortised over the group with the hope it will improve over time as their duopoly grows.”

Ryan said supermarket chains extending their marketing war to petrol station convenience outlets will inevitably hurt small businesses and he called for the Federal and State Governments and the ACCC to take action if the large national grocery chains fail to play fair.