Below is a list of archive news items. For recent updates, see Latest news.
The Times: 16/05/2019
MPs upset as groceries watchdog rejects extra powers
The grocery regulator has clashed with MPs after they accused her of not being willing to take on powers that would provide more extensive protection to supermarket suppliers.
The business, energy and industrial strategy committee expressed frustration with Christine Tacon, the Groceries Code Adjudicator, after she said she did not need any more powers and resisted offering a view on a number of issues affecting suppliers.…
Farmers Guardian: 03/05/2019
Gender equality: Why British agriculture is in need of a culture change
With gender equality in the workplace rising up the agenda, Christine Tacon spoke to Olivia Midgley about why she thinks agriculture is in need of a culture change.
Throughout her 40 years in business, Christine Tacon has enjoyed senior roles at some of the world’s biggest companies, including Mars, Vodafone and Anchor/Fonterra.
News from the Adjudicator
The Times: 26/03/2019
Co-op escapes fine despite adjudicator’s scathing criticism
The Co-operative Group has avoided a fine from the grocery regulator despite being found guilty of “widespread” failings in how it treated its suppliers.
A year-long investigation by the Groceries Code Adjudicator found that the supermarket had dropped suppliers’ products without due notice, levied unfair charges on them and unreasonably varied their supply deals.
The Grocer: 26/03/2019
GCA got the right result on Co-op code compliance breaches
Read the full article here.
by Ronan Hegarty…
The Grocer: 13/12/18
The Times: 02/11/2018
Ocado and B&M join grocery code
The supermarket industry watchdog is to start monitoring how Ocado and B&M Homestores treat suppliers after their respective annual turnovers passed the £1 billion mark.
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said that Ocado, the online grocer, and B&M, the cut-price retailer, would be bound by the Groceries Supply Code of Practice, which governs how suppliers are treated to avoid abuses of power.
Simply Supply Chain: 30/10/2018
Letter to The Grocer, October 2018
Dear Sir
As reported last week in The Grocer ‘Women in Agribusiness Award’ the USA appear to have recognised Christine Tacon, The Grocery Code Adjudicator’s, impact on the UK Grocery retailers more fully than some of our own institutions….…
The Grocer: 12/10/2018
Amazon should face Adjudication over conduct, claim suppliers
Read the full article here: Amazon Article…
Demeter Award of Excellence
Women In Agribusiness Demeter Award of Excellence 2018
Hailed as a “dynamic businesswoman who has had a major impact in agribusiness and the food sector”, Christine Tacon is credited with transforming the largest farmer co-operative in the UK from operating at a huge loss to ending with an $8 million profit, and a $30 million increase in revenue.…
The Grocer: 31/08/2018
Christine Tacon wins Women in Agriculture Award of Excellence
Groceries Code Adjudicator Christine Tacon has won a major international award for her “dynamic” work.
Tacon, who took up the role in 2013, was nominated by peers to receive the Women in Agribusiness Demeter Award of Excellence in the US.…
The Grocer: 29/06/2018
The Grocer: 28/06/2018
The Grocer: 25/06/2018
The Grocer: 21/06/2018
The Grocer: 21/06/2018
The Grocer: 15/06/2018
The Grocer: 02/05/2018
As suppliers face Sainsbury’s-Asda squeeze, who can help them?
Adjudicator Christine Tacon said today that size did not matter when it came to the prospect of her protecting suppliers from a combined Sainsbury’s and Asda behemoth.
“Size makes no difference to my ability to regulate them,” Tacon told members of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee when asked by chairman Neil Parish what she planned to do to stop the companies “stitching up” their supplier base.…
The Grocer: 30/04/2018
How scared should suppliers be about the Sainsbury’s-Asda merger?
Sainsbury’s doesn’t much like its suppliers. Harsh, perhaps. But it’s got form, going back years, particularly on the branded side, where it’s regularly gone out of its way to drive customers towards own-label lines, through ad campaigns, till vouchers and other mechanics.…
The Independent: 30/04/2018
The Sainsbury’s-Asda merger goes to the heart of what we can expect from post-Brexit Britain
The business world seems to have been taken aback by the revelation of plans for a merger between Sainsbury’s and Asda, despite the proposal being seemingly well-advanced.…
NAMNEWS: 23/04/2018
Tesco Working To Ensure Booker Is GSCOP Compliant
Tesco is urgently working with buyers at Booker to ensure its newly enlarged business is compliant with GSCOP rules.
With the Code currently only covering the top 10 supermarkets in the UK, Booker’s activities have not previously been covered by the Adjudicator, Christine Tacon. However, having worked hard to improve its dealings with suppliers since the 2014 accounting scandal, Tesco is reported to have called for a “culture change” amongst buyers in the Booker operation.…
The Grocer: 18/04/2018
Morrisons Boost Supplier Transparency with Online Portal
Morrisons has announced the launch of a new online supplier portal it claims will boost transparency and long-term relationships with its supplier base. The retailer said the move was a response to concerns from suppliers and followed other moves to simplify trading relationships in its supply chain.The free portal would include all commercial agreements stored in one, secure place, visible to both suppliers and Morrisons at the same time, it said.
Financial Times: 12/04/2018
EU eyes crackdown on unfair practices by powerful food buyers
Brussels is proposing a crackdown on powerful food buyers that force predatory terms on small suppliers, in a move to protect producers that has alarmed some large European retailers.
Phil Hogan, EU agriculture commissioner, will on Thursday unveil a package of reforms to ban “unfair” contract terms and empower national authorities to police the conduct of big buyers such as supermarkets and food production companies.
The proposal would set minimum standards so member states can take action “to protect the more vulnerable [suppliers] in the food chain,” said Mr Hogan in an interview with the Financial Times.…
The Grocer: 15/03/18
The Grocer: 19/2/2018
Taking Tacon down the farm was never going to wash
It’s no wonder farming groups are disappointed by the government’s decision not to extend the powers of the Groceries Code Adjudicator, Christine Tacon, to cover primary producers.
Going back now at least three years, they have been strung along by successive governments into holding out hope that the Adjudicator might be ordered to descend like an avenging angel to stop them being bullied by the big, bad supermarkets.…
The Grocer: 27/11/2017
Time for a new approach to food assurance
Does anyone remember the Efra Committee episode where Neil Parish et al tried to get Groceries Code Adjudicator Christine Tacon to answer questions on farmgate prices, despite the fact her role doesn’t have anything to do with meat and dairy farmers, or pricing?…
Food Manufacture: 20/07/2017
Food Suppliers ‘Must Open Up About Retailer Abuse’
Suppliers were “finally opening up” but could still be “more forthcoming” in coming forward with their issues with retailers, Christine Tacon claimed.
Writing in her Annual Report and Accounts for 2016-2017, published at the end of June, Tacon reassured suppliers’ that their identities would be protected.…
Farmers Weekly: 19/07/2017
‘Climate Of Fear’ Must Be Tackled In Grocery Market
The supermarket watchdog is making significant progress tackling unfair trading in the grocery supply chain, but more must be done to tackle the “climate of fear” that stops suppliers speaking out.
That is the conclusion of the government’s statutory review of the Grocery Code Adjudicator (GCA), which also said the GCA had led to a positive “cultural shift” among supermarkets in the way they treat their suppliers.…
Groceries Code Adjudicator Annual Conference Report
Groceries Code Review
Significant Cultural Change In Supermarket Industry
Small Business Minister Margot James has welcomed a positive relationship change between supermarkets and their suppliers, as she publishes the first Statutory Review of the Groceries Code Adjudicator (GCA) today.
The review, which considered independent findings from YouGov alongside responses from trade associations, supermarkets and suppliers, found that the GCA, Christine Tacon CBE, has been effective in exercising her powers and enforcing the Groceries Code.…
Press Coverage: The Grocer
How the Adjudicator has changed grocery
The Groceries Code Adjudicator’s annual conference in Westminster carried additional significance this year as it marked the end of Christine Tacon’s first term and raised questions about the organisation’s long-term direction and future remit.
The organisation has undoubtedly had a positive impact on the grocery sector.…
CCH Daily: 30/06/2017
People in the news.
Consumer Minister Margot James has announced the reappointment of Christine Tacon CBE as the Groceries Code Adjudicator (GCA). Having held the role since its launch, Tacon has overseen significant progress in compliance with the Groceries Code. In 2015 she investigated alleged Code breaches by Tesco, which resulted in the supermarket adopting fairer payment practices and improved transparency in all its dealings with suppliers.…
Farmers Weekly: 26/06/2017
Supermarket treatment of suppliers – the good, bad and ugly
Asda and Iceland have come bottom of a league table ranking UK supermarkets on fair trading practices with suppliers, while Aldi and Sainsburys have come top.
Read the full article here. …
Horticulture Week: 26/06/2017
Unfair packaging charges reduced says adjudicator, but payment delays still troubling
Groceries Code Adjudicator (GCA) Christine Tacon says the latest polling data from supermarket suppliers “demonstrate major progress across key issues” during her four years in the role. But she says payment delays remain a major issue.…
The Guardian: 26/06/2017
Asda is named worst supermarket in treatment of suppliers.
Asda has been named as the worst of the UK’s major supermarkets in its treatment of suppliers. It dropped below Morrisons, which was bottom of the list last year, as the Bradford-based chain took action to improve its performance according to a survey of more than 1,200 grocery suppliers by the industry watchdog.…
Fresh Produce Journal: 26/06/2017
Groceries Code Adjudicator agrees to a further year in the post, while new survey suggests her work is having a major impact
Groceries Code Adjudicator Christine Tacon has confirmed that she will continue for a further year, while the new government evaluates the role’s remit.…