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 & serenity, meeting Canada’s first Grocery Code Adjudicator.
Karen officially starts in role in a few weeks, but what is obvious from the outset is she not only has a clear vision of what success looks like, but is already underway with her ’back of house to do list’ with the essentials to be ready for the Code on June 1st.
Her experience from Regulatory, Legislative & Compliance roles within Government, development of FHCP as well as senior agriculture & commercial roles is of course a perfect fit for this challenge. Someone who understands the industry first hand & the importance for the need of Code ‘from field to basket’, but overwhelmingly it is her passion & openness which you can only warm to,
“One of my first tasks is get Retailers to sign pre June 1st. They have signed up verbally, but it’s important all our members physically sign, which shows commitment to do business within the Code. I also need a gauge from all members especially the thousands of manufacturers how ‘Code ready’ they are ahead of June 1st so we can assist & help prepare them.”
From discussing a range of topics from the principles of the Code, winning hearts & minds, communication strategy & website, importance of training, along with potential challenges, she is also keen to focus on style & approach.
“If the code promotes transparency, then I want that also to be key in how the Board & I operate as well.”
On asking about the ‘Portal’ (the system which members will use to communicate Code breeches) she agrees it must be easy to use, confidential & organisations trained on how to use it, and has tasked her IT providers to be ready ahead of June1st to ensure that this works effectively.
Unlike the UK version of the Code, the Canadian Code is reciprocal, and Karen is clear to point out that suppliers who are members of the Code “must themselves be Code compliant & we will be measuring that”.
In preparation of June 1st, she comments “My dance card is quite full over the next few months!” and this is the reality of her busy schedule of meetings, conferences & events, knowing communication & clarity of process will be 2 key metrics on helping the success of the Code.
“I want people to speak to me, ask my advice….the Code only works when I am aware of questions & issues, so it’s essential I provide a simple, easy, confidential & consistent framework for this to happen.”
Finally, we then discuss how will Karen & her team monitor & measure the first 18th months. ‘When we have the first AGM it will provide the opportunity to formally announce new members to the Board, but importantly allow us to share observations & recommendations on what we have observed, potential changes if needed & no doubt dialogue from those CPG companies, whose categories who are not part of the Code (yet)’.
This week sees an unusual Canadian retailers ‘synchronised’ mail out to all suppliers, according to a Canadian SVP of Sales I spoke with, advising suppliers that due to the new US tariffs, that the ‘12 week window’ for notice of a Cost Price Increase, is immediately reduced to 6 weeks (if tariff related) to allow companies to manage this imposed increase in a suitable way. “This synchronised approach by retailers I have never witnessed before” which he considers is a combination of Canadian’s becoming more unified in recent weeks due to the tariffs, but importantly, has a view that this may well be the first stages of seeing ‘Code behaviour & Collaboration’ from Retailers .
Whilst this potentially illustrates an initial ‘nicety’ of Collaboration, the debate here is why should even 6 weeks be justified? Tariffs are a duty/instant tax and should be treated like all other taxes, with overnight impact on cost of goods & retail pricing.
Roll on June 1st …
