Retailer relationship in spotlight
SUPERMARKETS BEHAVE badly sometimes, but they are more trusted by consumers than farmers or government, according to junior DEFRA minister Lord Whitty.
Lord Whitty told farmers attending the NFU‘s annual conference that supermarkets did engage in practices that would not be acceptable in other industries.
But he added that at the end of the day they were the farming industry‘s outlet to the consumer and farmers had to work with them.
“80% of farmers‘ output is conveyed through supermarkets so they must be part of the solution [for farming] and not the Aunt Sally that everyone knocks,” he said.
Lord Whitty‘s comments were made just hours after DEFRA secretary Margaret Beckett warned supermarkets they must stop squeezing suppliers to the point of ‘elimination‘.
“Supermarkets must recognise that in the long run they and their customers need a sustainable UK-based supply chain,” she said.
She added that the OFT had commissioned a focused audit of the supermarkets dealings with suppliers, due for publication within the next few weeks, and promised that the government would carefully consider the findings of the report.
Lib Dem shadow DEFRA secretary Andrew George said he believed that the supermarkets had got to a position where they had farmers by the ‘goolies‘.
“The Prime Minister once said they had farmers in an armlock, but I think it is rather more uncomfortable than that,” he said.
Mr George said that measures, such as the introduction of a food chain inspector, were needed urgently to protect farmers from abuse of power.
Jim Paice, Tory agriculture spokesman, said he would be studying the OFT‘s report on supermarkets with interest.
But he added: “We‘ve already made it clear that we think there should be a much tougher supermarket code of practice.”
Plaid Cymru MP Elfyn Llwyd agreed that it was time for government to intervene to protect suppliers.
“If we don‘t see any intervention we will find there are fewer and fewer farmers,” he warned.
The NFU has published a farming ‘manifesto‘ which lists the issues that it believes politicians must address on the run up to the General Election. The document points out that the challenges facing farming businesses in Britain have never been greater. “Farmers and growers look to the next government to work with them to square up to these challenges.”