The Competition Commission has said that some supermarkets are “just too ruthless” towards farmers.
The admission came from the commission’s chief executive Martin Stanley, speaking to Welsh MPs earlier this week.
“It’s an uneasy compromise between suppliers and supermarkets,” said Stanley. “They are very difficult and I think that what you find is that it often works well, but sometimes supermarkets are just too ruthless, and we need to do something about that.”
He was talking to the MPs on the Welsh Affairs Select Committee ahead of the commission’s final report, which is due out in April. He also said that supermarkets are likely to see changes to their code of practice and hinted that the idea of a retail ombudsman is also under consideration.
