It’s all happening in retail at the moment as the big supermarkets throw new initiatives at each other quicker than you can say “Big Price Drop”.

Just when you think one of them has come up with the biggest pledge yet, another one steps up and trumps it. So it was this week with Sainsbury’s extraordinary commitment to doubling its sales of British food over the next decade - no mean feat for a retailer that already overtrades on many domestic produce lines.

The move is a very welcome one and a commitment that sends a strong signal to UK growers that there will be a market for their produce in the long term.

On the other hand, Sainsbury’s suppliers will be dismayed to see the supermarket squaring up to Asda and Tesco in the price war and committing to competing on a like-for-like basis, even if it is just on brands for now.

Speaking to suppliers of all supermarkets at the moment, it is clear there is a huge amount of nervousness around these various price commitments. There is already anecdotal evidence of suppliers being asked how they can help fund these kind of initiatives, and if they haven’t received the call already they are certainly fearing doing so.

It’s all well and good a supermarket claiming that being the cheapest allows it to sell more of its suppliers’ product, but if that comes at the expense of the supplier’s viability then what is the point?

Grand plans to source more local food will come to nothing if there’s no one to source it from.