The British Independent Fruit Growers Association has added its voice to those calling for a full investigation of the grocery market by the Competition Commission.
Following the Office of Fair Trading’s proposal to make a market investigation referral, Bifga chairman John Breach has expressed his wishes in a letter to the OFT.
His letter questions the power of the supermarkets and calls unequivocally for a regulator to oversee the sector. “Surely it cannot be right that just four individuals are now deciding which apples and pears some 80 per cent of the UK population will be eating?” Breach’s letter asked.
The association is also asking for a new code of practice to include all the points made in the Competition Commission report of 2000, with the removal of vague and subjective terms such as “reasonable”.
Bifga supports positive discrimination to help independent retailers compete against the multiples through the introduction of free, short-stay, town-centre parking by local authorities.
As well as bemoaning supermarket prices to growers and the impact of the large retailers on a range of environmental issues, Bifga urged more help for farm shops and farmers’ markets and limits on future supermarket growth so as to protect the wholesale trade in the UK. “If the great school dinners revolution continues to grow, it will be increasingly important for secondary wholesalers and canteen managers to have vibrant wholesale markets to buy from,” Breach wrote. “If supermarkets are allowed to grow further, and so put even more greengrocers out of business, there is likely to be terminal decline in a number of these markets.”
The OFT’s consultation period on its proposed referral to the Competition Commission ends on Thursday.
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