Groceries Code Adjudicator Mark White has revealed he has “intensified” talks with supermarkets amid concerns about cost price increase requests being delayed or leading to products being delisted.
White held talks in the past few weeks with all 14 retailers covered by the code with CPI dominating the agenda, as suppliers try to push through price increases for January.
The Adjudicator is to launch a new survey into retailer behaviour in the new year, after this year’s results in June showed relationships breaking down.
In September, White accused supermarket buyers of “hiding behind their desks” rather than engaging with suppliers to tackle inflation.
This week, White told The Grocer he would be seeking information from suppliers to enable him to “hold supermarkets to account”.
“I have intensified discussions with all the 14 designated retailers about how they are following my seven golden rules for CPI requests to ensure negotiations are handled fairly and lawfully, as well as about other issues such as their goods-in processes and their handling of retrospective audit claims,” said White.
“I want to hear from any suppliers who are having issues with their price increase negotiations or any other area.”
News of the talks comes after tentative signs that the pressure on food inflation is starting to ease, with Kantar figures yesterday finding grocery inflation now stands at 14.6% but moved back by 0.1 percentage points during the most recent four weeks – its first drop in 21 months.
However, it comes with suppliers set to come under more cost pressure with the government’s energy bailout due to expire in April.
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