Choice of grocery watchdog welcomed

Christine Tacon, the former boss of the Co-operative’s farming business, will be able to impose fines and “name and shame” supermarkets who are not treating suppliers fairly when she takes up her new post as the Grocery Code Adjudicator GCA.

Her appointment was widely welcomed by politicians of all parties and within the farming industry, which has complained for many years of the exploitation of suppliers by the biggest buyers,

The announcement comes five years after the post was first recommended by the Competition Commission following a lengthy investigation which found that large retailers were passing on excessive risks and unexpected costs to their suppliers.

Ms Tacon’s role will be to enforce the Groceries Supply Code of Practice, which came into force in 2010 and regulates activities between the 10 biggest supermarkets and their direct suppliers. She will earn £69,000-a-year for the three-day-a-week job.

She said: “Coming from a commercial background, I am sure that if we can increase trust between retailers and their direct suppliers, it will lead to greater efficiency
and can only have a beneficial impact on the rest of the supply chain.”

Consumer Minister Jo Swinson, who announced the appointment yesterday, added: “This is an incredibly important position in the retail groceries sector, making sure that large supermarkets treat their suppliers fairly and lawfully.”

NFU head of farming Phil Hudson said: “This is an important step forward, and will reassure farmers that progress continues to be made to introduce an adjudicator with the necessary ‘teeth’ to curb the abuses of power that can undermine farmers and the supply chain.”