High Court Refuses Lidl Injunction Against IFA

IFA President Tim Cullinan has welcomed the decision of the High Court to refuse an injunction to Lidl stopping IFA’s campaign on labelling, and to provisionally award costs to IFA.

“This action was an attempt by Lidl to silence IFA. I am delighted that the court has declined Lidl’s injunction application and provisionally awarded costs against Lidl,” he said. 

Tim Cullinan said the ongoing drive by retailers towards using their own brands was undermining the people who actually produced the products. Lidl went a step further by inventing ‘fake farms’ and a ‘phantom creamery’. They should stop this immediately,” he said. 

This action by retailers can have the effect of pushing down prices and allows retailers to increase margins. It is the farmer as the primary producer who loses out.

IFA will continue to push the Government to establish the new Food Ombudsman’s office without delay.

One of their first asks should be for a forensic investigation into labelling and margins across the entire food supply chain.

“It is very difficult for individual farmers and suppliers to challenge major retailers given the disparity in scale and resources. However, IFA will continue to call out these practices without fear or favour,” he said.

Irish farmers work incredibly hard to produce top-quality, nutritious food.  However, marketing strategies like Lidl’s undermine this work and the role of farm families in the food supply chain. It is for this reason that yesterday we launched a joint campaign Sustaining Ireland with Agri Aware. This campaign brings real farmers to the forefront and tells their stories.