Amazon ruins GSCOP’s reputation. Why is the GCA allowing it?
Mark White took over as Groceries Code Adjudicator in October 2020. As measured by the YouGov GCA annual survey, the percentage of suppliers experiencing GSCOP-related issues was 29% at the time, having declined consistently year on year from 79% in 2014. Since then, the issues have risen to 35%, 36% and then 33% in the 2024 survey. This doesn’t […]
Meeting with Karen Proud – Canada’s first Grocery Code Adjudicator
What a week here in Canada. The Tariff ‘Yo-Yo’ debacle continues, causing frustration, distraction & uncertainty for CPG manufacturers & all those involved in the grocery supply chain & beyond. But now, sitting in the shadow of the Canadian Parliament & the House of Commons here in Ottawa, there is sense of occasion, privilege & […]
Choice or price? But is it really?
The implications for suppliers in Australia of the recent 10% range reduction announcement by Coles supermarkets, our #2 retailer with c.25% market share, are significant and those suppliers that are not prepared could face a tough time.
Big four must differentiate to avoid further job cuts
Tesco, Sainsbury’s, and Morrisons have announced job losses in the thousands, citing various reasons. Morrisons outright blamed the government’s budget and Sainsbury’s indirectly blamed it, saying it will need to work with suppliers to keep prices down. The budget has put a burden of millions on retail, and it’s very difficult to see how the government is pro-business as it ploughs ahead with further […]
Grocery bills are set to rise as annual price freeze ends. Here’s how it works
This February, Canadians will notice some prices at the grocery store creep higher. Around the end of January, an annual industry-wide freeze by grocers on prices from suppliers comes to an end. “We do have a freeze where we don’t take any cost increases between November and early February. So in the next few weeks, […]
Fmcg innovation is worse than ever. Here’s why
Just over 1% of product launches in the UK are ‘distinctive innovation’. So concluded the innovation report commissioned by the British Brands Group last year, which identified only 77 products that met the criteria in 2021. The remaining 5,423 were only ‘everyday innovation’, found the study, published in The Grocer in May. This is a […]
Retailers should rethink their National Lottery communications
Suppliers always need to ensure a ‘triple win’: the shopper, the retailer and, of course, the supplier themselves. They all need to see a benefit or no worthwhile business happens. Not so when it comes to the National Lottery. Here, it’s actually a quadruple win. The additional participant is not the prize winner, but the good […]
Suppliers Struggling To Get CPI Requests Approved
Supermarket buyers have been using avoidance tactics or flat-out refusing to engage over requests for cost price increases from suppliers. This is according to a YouGov report commissioned by Groceries Code Adjudicator Mark White, which was released at this week’s GCA conference in London. Analysis of the report by trade publication The Grocer suggests retailers […]
Defra is doing the right thing wrong on EPR
If you have not yet written to government on EPR packaging tax, now is the time. Following the August estimates backlash, Defra published revisions this week. Whilst bringing down the levels a tad, this review changes nothing. The government needs to rethink the process, especially the timing, urgently –or accept this will immediately drive inflation. It is vital […]
Grocery Code ‘It’s making a difference here in New Zealand’
Working with clients in New Zealand this week it has been amazing to see sales teams & buyers already embracing and using the ComCom Grocery Code of conduct. For those ‘out of towners’, the code here came into effect late last year with main focus to protect consumers from rising prices & suppliers receiving ‘beyond’ […]
