Tom Lander is our food chain adviser.
He writes:
The reasons are obvious – it is not sustainable for a beef farmer to be in a position where they don’t know what payment terms are going to provided by their local abattoirs one day to the next, or for a horticulture producer supplying direct to retail being asked to fund product promotions. These are just two examples of trading unfairness that all members can relate to and it needs to stop.
More of our staff blogs...
Susan Archer, NFU specialist advice team - Answering the call on BPS
Matt Ware, head of government and parliamentary affairs - Counting the manifesto matches as polling day approaches
Ruth Mason, chief food chain adviser - The rise of the discounters...should we worry?
Catherine McLaughlin, chief adviser for animal health and welfare - No 'one-size fits all' on animal disease
Mark Pope, NFU Environment Forum chairman - Farmers have a strong story on the environment
Guy Smith, NFU Vice President - Farmers must not be penalised for RPA delays
The NFU long called for a code of practice for the whole food supply chain, to ensure fair terms and conditions were in place so that members could operate their businesses in a fairer, more secure environment. And we asked for an independent adjudicator to oversee the code of practice and ensure that it was adhered to.
In 2010, the government finally put forward the Grocery Supplier’s Code of Practice (GSCOP). It laid out some key rules on how the top ten UK grocery retailers should treat their direct suppliers. But without a body to oversee the code it was unenforceable.In 2013, Christine Tacon was appointed Grocery Code Adjudicator and we have seen improvements for the part of the supply chain that her remit covers (retailers and their direct suppliers).
The call for a code of practice for the grocery supply chain is not, and nor should it be, about interfering with prices that producers get paid. It is about ensuring that farmers and producers are protected from the imbalances of power that exist in the supply chain.
Our ask is about written contract agreements with fair payment terms that offer security. We want to make sure producers and suppliers have a fair crack at the whip when it comes to contract negotiations with customers who have far larger financial and bargaining power than they do. And it’s also about creating certainty of supply and reducing volatility which is so often experienced across supply chains today.
The NFU continues to ask for the remit of the grocery code to be extended further than just retailers with a turnover larger than £1 billion per year and their direct suppliers. The code, as it is, only really benefits the portion of our membership that directly supply retailers. We accept that ensuring retailers are treating their direct suppliers more fairly should in theory benefit primary producers indirectly, but there is no guarantee that processors and intermediary suppliers will demonstrate fair practices back to their farmers.
What is refreshing is that the majority of the election manifestos from the various political parties say there is a need for the widening of the scope of the grocery code.
It’s one of the NFU’s election manifesto asks. Action is needed to eradicate unfair trading practices in the agri-food supply chain and we want our members to help by taking part in our quick online survey and to share their experiences of unfair trading practices.
With their experiences and feedback the NFU will continue to be at the heart of improving supply chain relationships for its members.