There’s nothing particularly surprising about retailers using different ways of putting contracts out for tender, but at a time when everyone is talking about getting closer to growers, the rise of the online auction is something of an oddity.

Long-term partnerships should be the cornerstone of successful retailing, particularly at the moment, when producers need security of supply to invest in new farms, facilities and infrastructure.

One source this week described e-auctions as “a ruthless way of doing business that only takes into account price” and suggested that added-value factors such as environmental and social considerations could take a back seat.

The British Retail Consortium says the use of e-auctions is still not widespread, and suppliers will very much hope that remains the case.

Our news editor Alex leaves us this week to take up a position as senior reporter at Retail Week. Alex has made a huge contribution to FPJ’s development over the past three years and on behalf of everybody at FPJ I’d like to thank him for all his hard work and wish him well in his future career.

From next week Tom Bonnett will be taking over as news editor, and I’m sure many of you will have the opportunity to meet and speak to Tom in the coming weeks and months.

It’s an exciting time for FPJ as we unveil our new look on 18 November (more of which next week), and we look forward to Tom playing his part in this next stage in FPJ’s history.