HORTICULTURE producers have accepted Coles' exclusion of fruit and vegetables from its pledge to keep prices the same in all its stores.
The supermarket giant last month unveiled plans to charge customers the same price for 97 per cent of its products in stores across the country - but not on fresh fruit and vegetables.
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Victorian Farmers Federation Horticulture Group president Rien Silverstein said growers had "no problem" with excluding fruit and vegetables.
"We understand their perishability makes it impractical to charge the same price for them in all parts of the country," Ms Silverstein said.
An Ausveg spokesman also said excluding fruit and vegetables from the promise was not a big issue for growers.
A comparison of fruit and vegetable prices in different Coles stores at the weekend found prices were the same for some lines but not for others.
For example, yellow peaches and white nectarines were selling for $3.95/kg both at Coles in Swan Hill and in the inner Melbourne suburb of St Kilda.
But while tomatoes were $3.49/kg in Swan Hill, they were $2.35/kg in St Kilda.
Brushed potatoes were only $1.50/kg in Swan Hill but $2.48/kg in St Kilda.
A Coles spokesman said it was not practical to include fruit and vegetables in the policy.
"We have multiple points of sale for fresh fruit and vegetables," he said.
"We also have many growers delivering direct to one or more stores in their area.
"The nature of the products made it very difficult for us to put them on consistent pricing."
