Will being rational save your skin?

As the fresh produce world gathers in Berlin next week, supplier rationalisation is undoubtedly the number one issue preying on the minds of the UK’s global supply chain.

Our section on rationalisation on pages 24-28 explores the phenomenon and asks where it goes from here.

It would be simplistic to blame Prunella Scales for starting this trend, but the actress’s constant demand for "last year's prices" in the Tesco television ads has helped to lay the foundation for a new breed of consumer that expects their fruit and vegetables to become cheaper with each passing year.

Research has suggested there is still a large majority of the UK population that has no idea what the price of a kilo of bananas is, but one look at the importance attached by retailers to relatively small-scale sub-categories, such as organics and Fairtrade is enough to illustrate the bizarre need to pander to a minority of their customer base.

While reducing prices for the consumer is the front-of-house reason, as most people out there are all too aware, the real intention behind supplier rationalisation is not to please cash-strapped supermarket customers, but to bolster profits for the supermarket, appease shareholders and, perhaps most importantly, impress the City analysts and national media that shape the consumers’ perceptions.

Tesco has undeniably done a magnificent job in building its share of the grocery market to 29 per cent, leaving all and sundry gasping for the little bit of air it has left behind.

But how much help has it been given by the apparently endless stream of criticism levelled at Sainsbury's and, to a lesser extent, the media stance to the takeover of Asda by Wal-Mart?

It is still a little early to gauge the over-riding view of Morrisons among the press-pack, but the tone of the media coverage will play its part in how the UK consumers view the success or failure of the Safeway acquisition.

How suppliers deal with the inevitable slings and arrows coming their way will shape the fresh produce industry of the future. But because factors that will restructure the UK’s supermarket sector are largely uncontrollable, hanging in there in hope, as much as expectation, has become the only available option to many.