Cheap Food Isn't Cheap: What the Corrigan's Farm Case Reveals About Who Really Pays the Price

If you run a stall, grow food, or organise a market in Australia, you already know this truth: There is nothing “cheap” about growing food properly. And yet, every week, Australians are trained to expect fresh produce at prices that barely move—no matter the season, the weather, the labour shortage, or the cost of doing business. Last week, an ABC News investigation exposed what happens when that pressure finally cracks. **The case that should make every market operator pause** According to ABC News, farm workers who harvested salad vegetables at Corrigan’s Farm in Victoria in late 2023 are still chasing more than $260,000 in unpaid wages, spread across at least 20 workers. The vegetables were supplied into major supermarket chains, including Coles and Woolworths, through labour hire arrangements. Some of the workers, members of Melbourne’s Khmer community, say they worked long hours during peak harvest and were never fully paid. Liquidators’ documents filed in court show the money is still owed. This is not gossip. This is not social media outrage. This is documented reporting by the national broadcaster, based on court filings. And while the legal responsibility is still being argued through insolvency and investigation processes, one thing is already clear: The people at the bottom of the chain carried all the risk. **Why this story matters to markets — not just supermarkets** Let’s be very clear. This article is not saying: supermarkets are guilty of wage theft all large farms exploit workers every supply chain is corrupt Those claims require court findings. What *is* undeniable — and supported by regulators — is this: Australia’s supermarket system is structurally tilted. The ACCC has formally acknowledged that Coles and Woolworths dominate the grocery market and hold significant buyer power over suppliers, particularly in fresh produce. When two buyers control most of the demand, everyone else competes to survive inside their pricing expectations. And when margins are crushed: labour becomes “flexible” contractors multiply responsibility becomes blurry and when something goes wrong, the worker is left chasing money years later If you’ve ever wondered how food can be sold so cheaply while farmers are “doing it tough” — this is how. **Labour hire: the invisible buffer** In the Corrigan’s Farm case, workers were not directly employed by supermarkets. They were hired through labour hire companies. This structure is legal, common, and deeply flawed. Because when labour hire collapses, phoenixes, or disappears: the farm points upward the retailer points downward and the worker is left standing alone with a payslip that never came This is not a loophole stallholders get to use. This is a scale privilege. **Why markets work differently — and why that matters now** Farmers markets don’t operate on anonymity. At markets: the grower is visible the operator is accountable reputations are earned week by week people remember who treats others fairly There is no corporate buffer. No layered contracting maze. No PR department to issue a statement while workers wait. And that is precisely why markets matter. Not as a lifestyle trend. Not as a “nice weekend thing”. But as a different economic model. **Small businesses aren’t small — they are the workforce** According to Australian small business data, small businesses employ around 39% of Australia’s private-sector workforce. That includes: stallholders family farms bakers growers market crews food producers These businesses are not extracting value — they are circulating it locally. They pay people they know. They feel price increases immediately. They absorb shocks personally. When they raise prices, it’s not to protect shareholders. It’s to survive another season. **The lie we’ve been sold about “cheap food”** Consumers are told that farmers markets are “more expensive”. But multiple studies and university reporting have shown that local produce is not always more expensive — and often delivers better value when waste, quality, and fairness are considered. What is expensive is a system that: externalises labour risk normalises underpayment investigations and treats food like a commodity divorced from human effort If food is only cheap because someone else didn’t get paid properly — then it was never cheap at all. **What this means for Markets & Fairs, stallholders, and operators** This story is not about one farm. It’s about a system that rewards: distance opacity and scale without accountability Markets sit on the opposite side of that equation. They are: visible local relational and harder to hide behind That is not a weakness. It is their strength. And as wage theft laws tighten, audits increase, and scrutiny grows, markets are not the problem that needs fixing. They are part of the solution. **Final word** If workers are still chasing wages years later, the system has failed — regardless of who is ultimately found legally responsible. Markets exist because people want: transparency fairness connection and trust This is not about nostalgia. It’s about choosing an economy where the people who grow, make, and sell food are not invisible — and not disposable. That’s why farmers markets matter. And that’s why this story matters to every stallholder and operator in Australia.