For more than four decades, Mr Marsolino grew zucchinis and other vegetables on his farm.
But now the Toolamba man is done, and he said his decision to get out of the fruit and vegetable game was a direct result of the discrepancy between what he was paid as a supplier, and what his produce was sold for in supermarkets.
“Labour has gone up, everything has gone up, but we seem to be getting less on our product than we were 20 years ago,” Mr Marsolino said.
He said he was being paid $1.50 to $2 per kilogram for his zucchinis, while they were retailing in supermarkets for $5.90/kg.
“I wasn’t going back to do that again this year.”
Instead, Mr Marsolino left the industry and switched to growing lucerne for animal feed.
He said he specifically chose his new crop so he would no longer have to deal with supermarkets and what he described as growing discrepancies between farm gate and store prices.
Mr Marsolino said one of the hardest parts of his decision was cutting his workforce from 150 employees to just two.
But he’s not alone in his frustration and inclination to leave the industry.
A vegetable industry sentiment report from peak industry body AUSVEG shows roughly a third of growers are considering leaving the industry in the next 12 months.
It was also a topic in the independent review that led to changes to the Food and Grocery Code of Conduct due to come into effect from April 1.
“This will protect suppliers and farmers and improve supermarket conduct with heavy penalties for breaches of the code,” according to the Federal Government.
Federal Nationals leader David Littleproud said the upcoming changes had been too slow to come into effect, and didn’t go far enough.
“Labor has been too slow to act, forcing farmers like Ross to leave the industry,” Mr Littleproud said.
Mr Marsolino also questioned why it had taken the government so long to act, and expressed scepticism that the new mandatory code would result in real changes.
Spokespeople for Coles and Woolworths said neither of the supermarket chains had a direct supplier relationship with Mr Marsolino for zucchinis.
Mr Marsolino confirmed that he sold to a wholesaler who then sold his produce on.
The supermarket spokespeople said they would not be involved in what wholesalers paid suppliers.
When asked about the discrepancy in farm gate and retail pricing, a Coles spokesperson said criticism of the difference in pricing failed to consider the broader costs in the entire supply chain.
“It should be noted that the retail price also includes additional costs incurred such as transport and distribution across the country, along with operational costs like energy, insurance, labour and leasing,” the spokesperson said.
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