Consumer interests are greater than those of suppliers in the eyes of the Office of Fair Trading, delegates to the Re:fresh Conference were told.
Speaking at the event last week, Bob MacDowall from the OFT’s markets and policies initiative division, offered suppliers little comfort with his presentation on the OFT’s recent review of the Supermarket code of practice.
He said the OFT’s primary remit was to protect the interests of the consumer: “Everyone is working towards what the consumer wants. If they want lower prices and better produce, then often that means there needs to be a squeeze on the supply chain to provide that
“That’s not to say we don’t care about the suppliers. We do care if there are significant competition problems in the supply chain.”
He said the OFT’s review concluded that the retailers were complying with the code and that the grocery market was working for consumers. “It would be a major concern if it wasn’t,” he added.
The code was intended to be self-sufficient he said: “It was created as a mechanism that was to be used by the industry for the industry and the OFT should not have to intervene in each individual dispute.”
Perhaps frustratingly for suppliers, he repeated the call for suppliers to step forward and use the systems created by the code: “It’s not a popular point, but suppliers do have to overcome their fear of complaining. It’s not something we can help them with, other than generic advice. We can’t do it for them,” MacDowall said.
He told delegates the industry needed to be more official in its dealings with the retailers. “Suppliers must see written terms of their business with the supermarkets, things like agreed prices, when things need to be delivered. These are all the kind of things that don’t get written down and it’s difficult in a fast-moving business.”
Not having a written record makes it more difficult for suppliers to pursue a complaint. “Suppliers could be a lot more assertive with supermarkets if they’ve got a written account of their dealings.”
He called on suppliers to participate in the ongoing consultation process detailed on this page. Nigel Jenney, chief executive of the Fresh Produce Consortium backed this up, urging suppliers to either go direct to the OFT or through the FPC.
