The announcement of Christine Tacon, the former MD of The Co-operative Farms, as the long-awaited groceries code adjudicator has been well received by the fresh produce industry.
Tacon, who will have the power to fine supermarkets who breach the Groceries Supply Code of Practice, said she now aims to “increase the level of trust” between retailers and suppliers.
The NFU’s head of food and farming, Phil Hudson, believes the appointment has already boosted trust among farmers.
He said: “This appointment will reassure farmers that progress continues to be made to introduce an adjudicator that will have the necessary ‘teeth’ to curb the abuses of power from retailers that can undermine farmers and the supply chain.”
Upmarket retailer Waitrose has called for Tacon to ensure that fines fall hardest on the retailers that break the rules. A spokesperson told FPJ: “We have consistently supported the concept of a GCA, since we place fair treatment of our suppliers at the heart of the way we do business. In due course, we would like to make sure that the costs of the GCA fall most on those who breach the rules, not evenly across the industry.”
Meanwhile, John Walker, national chairman of the Federation of Small Businesses, believes that small businesses will now have a voice and somewhere to take their complaints.
He explained: “I hope small suppliers will now feel less vulnerable and have somewhere to take their complaint – anonymously if need be – if the principles of the government’s groceries code are breached.”
However, one leading fruit supplier told FPJ that although Tacon’s appointment was “the right one”, there still hasn’t been proper clarification on how supplier anonymity will be protected.
He said: “Tacon said on the radio that complaints would be anonymous, but how can that realistically be done?
“Say, for example, a supplier complained about a retailer which only has two suppliers in a particular category, they will soon be able to work out who it is through the process of elimination.
“Supermarkets must realise they are not the only ones under pressure as suppliers need to make money as well, so the bully-boy tactics must end.”
