GCA calls on suppliers to give feedback on retailers

The UK’s Grocery Code Adjudicator is calling on beer, wine and spirit suppliers to take part in a survey to identify where it needs to focus attention.

GCA Christine Tacon said the annual YouGov was a valuable way to measure progress on changing the culture of the grocery sector and also to identify areas that still need more work. She is calling on all supermarket suppliers to take part.

In addition to wanting feedback on suppliers’ experience with the major retailers, the GCA wants to look at potential suggestions for improving the confidence of suppliers to step forward and bring information to the GCA, as well as boosting training.

It follows the GCA’s investigation into Tesco which found that the UK’s biggest retailer had treated supplier “unacceptably’, deliberately delaying payments to suppliers in order to meet its own financial targets.

Tacon’s recommended that the retailer provide a detailed plan of how it would improve transparency and clarity in its dealings with its suppliers, which suppliers argued was likely to result in more formal supplier relationships.

Since the ruling on Tesco, the GCA has launched an investigation to see if retailers are inadvertently discriminating against smaller suppliers by indirectly wanting payment for better or increased shelf placement. Demanding direct payments for shelf positioning is against the Grocery code.

UPDATE: A previous headline for this story mistakenly read ‘CGA’ instead of ‘GCA’. This has now been corrected and we apologise for any confusion.