Unfair supermarket practices should be 'consigned to the past'
The Fairtrade Foundation has responded to the U.K. Grocery Code Adjudicator's (GCA) independent investigation into Tesco's treatment of suppliers.
The supermarket was told to significantly change its practices and systems after GCA Christine Tacon found widespread breaches in the Code.
These included deliberate payment delays to suppliers and Tesco prioritizing its own finances over treating suppliers fairly.
Fairtrade Foundation chief executive Michael Gidney welcomes the findings.
"It is clear evidence of the importance of having a supermarket watchdog who is able not to just adjudicate complaints, but also undertake its own proactive investigation to address systemic concerns of fair play in supply chains," he says in a statement.
"With better levels of scrutiny and transparency in the grocery market, we hope that these kind of practices, such as unfair or excessively delayed payments of suppliers, will increasingly be consigned to the past.
"From the farmer in the field, to the shopper in the street or the investor in the board room, a grocery sector built around fairness and sustainability is in all our interests."
Photo: www.shutterstock.com
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