Many justifiably harsh words have been spoken about the way supermarkets held down ex farm milk prices while raising retail prices. It was obvious they were coining it while claiming what they were doing was in the best interests of consumers. However, I doubt if many dairy farmers realised a criminal cartel was in operation. That, anyway is what the Office of Fair Trading has alleged. The full facts, after the supermarkets have been given the chance to defend themselves, will be released in a few months.
Meanwhile, during the period of the alleged offences thousands of dairy farmers were forced out of business, some tragically. Its what happens when one side of an industry becomes so powerful that it can treat the other side with disdain; when greed takes over from fair business ethics; when individual hunger for bonuses becomes so dominant that they are prepared destroy the lives of those they deal with. Its what globalisation is doing on an even bigger scale.
The case has been reported extensively and there is no need for me to give further details here. However, a couple of key questions remain.
If supermarkets are fined hundreds of thousands of pounds, as some commentators suggest, where will the money go? To the farmers who were robbed in the first place? Or the Treasury? Do you need three guesses?
And if supermarkets were colluding over milk prices, how many other commodities might have been subject to similar behaviour? The Competition Commission should tell us that sometime next year. This may be the first of many shocking disclosures.