What is the Adjudicator doing about all those supplier complaints?

It’s been nearly three years since Mark White took over from Christine Tacon as the Groceries Code Adjudicator, and after last year’s survey showed supplier-retailer relationships going backwards for the first time, the new report shows tensions are worse.

True, there are positives. All but three of the grocers are doing better than last year when it comes to applying GSCOP in the eyes of their suppliers. But the three exceptions are the ones that really matter.

Amazon, which coincidentally this week was cheapest in our Grocer 33, scored the worst result on record in the GSCOP rankings, with an astonishing 12% of its suppliers saying it NEVER applies the code. It was always going to be difficult, with its AI-based modus operandi, for Amazon to get into line. But like earlier attempts to comply with new HFSS regulations, this is another shambles. And worryingly for the online giant, before the even more punitive Digital Markets Bill comes into force, White promises he will use “all the powers in his armoury” to ensure “Amazon gets its house in order”.

Read more:

• In graphs: Aldi and Tesco’s freefall down the Groceries Code table

• Evidence of inflation-strained relationsips in GCA league table

• Ken Murphy: supplier tension caused by Tesco ‘fighting the fight’ on inflation

• ‘No excuse’ for Amazon’s shocking first outing on supplier ranking

Even more worrying, though, is the performance of Aldi and Tesco, last year’s number one and two in the table, as the UK’s most influential grocery retailers have seen relations with suppliers go into freefall. And in the case of Tesco that was before it announced a series of new measures, including its notorious fulfilment fee, in the late spring.

There are lots of reasons for the fallout in relations. But perhaps the most worrisome aspect of this survey is a sense that the biggest and most successful supermarkets are more worried about growing and holding onto their share, and keeping prices down at all costs, than performing well in the GCA’s table.

White insists his “seven golden rules” on CPIs, published over a year ago, are keeping retailers in check. And his latest focus is ensuring supermarkets don’t cross the line as demands for lower prices rather than cost increases becomes the big issue. But with scores at the UK’s biggest and most influential grocers getting worse, and complaints at an all-time high, what is the Adjudicator actually doing about it?