Government needs to intervene to protect fair business practices.Ottawa—Five food processor organizations and two farm groups are roasting grocery retailers for arbitrarily increasing their fees for handling domestic food products.Food and Consumer Products of Canada President Michael Graydon said the fee increases are being imposed unilaterally by some of the large grocery retailers, which were chastised earlier this year for terminating pandemic bonus for their store workers.“You don't need to look further than dominant grocery chains' public earnings statements to see that Canada's Big 3 grocers' profit margins are as much as double that of a typical food processor,” Graydon said. “These arbitrary fees will wipe out processors' slim and shrinking margins, and they will be nothing short of devastating for Canada's farmers.”The groups issued a joint statement that singled out “recent aggressive moves by Walmart and United Grocers to extract funding from suppliers, despite suppliers' warnings that the new costs are unreasonable and threaten the affordability and security of the nation's food supply.”Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau said, "It is disappointing to see Walmart impose these costly fees, which fall on the thousands of Canadian food producers who are working hard to feed Canadians and support their communities amid many challenges.“However, given the scale of the costs raised here when compared to the current market-wide conditions and the impacts associated with the ongoing pandemic for both suppliers and retailers, such circumstances should be fully considered in the pending industry discussions,” she said.“The ongoing financial health of food processors and growers is critical to ensuring a robust food supply for Canadians. Our growers and processors will also be key to helping restart the Canadian economy in the context of the pandemic, and their ability to invest in the Canadian economy and to innovate will be an important part of our recovery.”FCPC has long raised concerns that Canada's consolidated grocery retail sector and the high cost of doing business contribute to rising food prices, erode Canada's ability to attract critical investment, and limit new job creation in food and consumer goods manufacturing, as investors find greater returns abroad.It and the statement's other signatories called on federal officials to address these damaging trends and institute measures to ensure fair business practices in the grocery retail sector, following the example of the U.K. Grocery Supplier Code of Conduct.The increases are “occurring at a time when farmers and food and beverage processors are already facing a complex web of arbitrary fees and penalties in their relationships with large grocery retailers, in addition to managing the on-going impact of Covid-19 on Canada's food system,” the statement said.The fee increases “negatively impact Canadian consumers as it results in lower investments and product innovation. Requiring food and beverage suppliers to cover the cost of investments in retail stores will come at the expense of the farmers' and processors' own investments in their Canadian facilities. What's more, it will also reduce revenues for Canadian farmers.”The other signatories are the Canadian Federation of Agriculture, the Canadian Horticultural Council, Dairy Processors Association of Canada, Food and Beverage Canada, Canadian Beverage Association and the Baking Association of Canada.Alex Binkley is a freelance journalist and writes for domestic and international publications about agriculture, food and transportation issues. He's also the author of two science fiction novels with more in the works.