The FDF works closely with the Groceries Code Adjudicator (GCA) to raise awareness on the right of suppliers and obligations faced by the UK’s largest grocery retailers in commercial negotiations.
The FDF lobbies Government to deliver a fairer food supply chain by ensuring the GCA has the long-term resources to undertake its essential work.
GCA Annual Conference 2024
This year’s GCA Annual Conference will take place on Tuesday 1st October. Participants can join in person at a venue which will be confirmed soon, or online.
The conference will bring together supplier representatives, designated retailers, and other experts to reflect on changes to the grocery sector, ongoing challenges, support available for suppliers and future priorities.
You can find more details or register on the GCA website or email for direct enquiries.
Updates
GCA 2024 Groceries Sector Survey results
The Groceries Code Adjudicator published the results of their annual survey which revealed that fewer grocery suppliers are experiencing issues, however Amazon’s compliance to the Groceries Supply Code of Practice (the Code) is still in question.
Key findings can be found below:
- The average compliance score across all 14 Retailers in 2024 was 91% compared to 92% in 2023. (Excluding Amazon, average compliance was 94% which was unchanged from the non-Amazon score in 2023.)
- The number of suppliers which requested at least one CPI (cost price increase) from a Retailer over the previous 12 months fell from 91% to 67% partially as a response to the fall in food inflation.
- Only 5% of suppliers highlighted concerns about how a cost price decrease (CPD) had been requested by a retailer.
- Amazon’s perceived Code compliance score fell from 59% to 47% and they have be told by the GCA to take comprehensive action to address Code non-compliance
- Mark White, the Groceries Code Adjudicator, encouraged suppliers to contact him directly confidentially to inform him of any issues with Amazon while the GCA is monitoring Amazon’s movements.
- Most common issues identified by suppliers in the past 12 months as categorised by the Code were:
- A delay in payments
- No compensation for forecasting errors
- Obligation to contribute to marketing costs
- The GCA will work with each of the 14 Retailers on their plans to address the issues raised by their suppliers in the survey.
You can view the full survey results here. You can learn more about the Groceries Supply Code of Practice and the GCA here.
If you have any Code-related concerns please contact Tanya who will, under the strictest confidentially, raise them with the GCA.
Groceries Code Adjudicator Annual Survey open until 25th February
The Groceries Code Adjudicator (GCA) annual survey on the groceries sector with the independent polling company YouGov is open until 25 February, 2024. All members who supply the retail sector are encouraged to complete the survey as it is a valuable opportunity for businesses to inform the GCA about how they have been treated by the UK’s 14 largest retailers.
Confidential responses to the survey will enable to GCA to better understand suppliers’ concerns and subsequently inform the GCA’s work to improve retailers’ treatment of suppliers.
The survey can be accessed here: https://start.yougov.com/refer/vtlVmb5TkgPBNz
You can find more about the GCA and the Groceries Supply Code of Practice (GSCOP) in our toolkit here. If you have questions about the survey or would like to confidentially raise concerns regarding a retailer relationship, please contact Tanya.
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