EVERY LITTLE HELPS (NOT)

As Tesco begins a whole sale roll down of prices, to (they say) benefit consumers some serious concerns are being expressed about the consequences for our farmers and suppliers. Welsh farmers and food suppliers are concerned that the prices they receive for their produce are going to get driven down, as Tesco will make efforts to avoid cutting its profits.

With Tesco dropping some of its prices and effectively declaring a Price War on its commercial rivals and competitors, the question is whose going to pay for it? The £500 million pound 'Big Price Drop' is an attempt to maintain Tesco’s share of the market rather than grow it. The real question is will the Tesco shareholders or management be the ones who absorb the pain of the cuts? Or the farmers and suppliers?

The National Farmers Union (NFU) Cymru and the Farmers Union of Wales have serious concerns is about the prices farmers get paid for their produce. Their experience tells them that the larger food retailers often expect their suppliers to share the pain of any cut in retail pricing.

Tesco already has what could be described as a fraught relationship with some of the farmers it uses to source its products. The National Farmers Union has talked openly about a ‘Climate of fear’ in the (monopoly) world of modern food retail, where the small producers are too scared to speak out about the abuses that are impoverishing them because they may run the risk of reprisals and lose the only customers there are for their produce.

The Con Dem Government, just like it's New Labour predecessor, has been dragging its feet about the prospect of legislation to create a supermarket watchdog to investigate alleged breaches of the Grocery Suppliers Code of Practice. The code was introduced after the Competition Commission found large retailers were passing on excessive risks and unexpected costs to their suppliers.

Part of the problem may be that the Political parties may have readily got used to some of the perks of having a close relationship with the Supermarkets (or power companies, etc) with their glossy adverts in conference brochures, free food at funded functions, etc. One very old rule is that once you sell your virtue it stays sold, and once you sell your principles they stay bought and the end result is that the fabric of our democracy is damaged or tainted, and nothing in this life is free.

Perhaps a more pertinent question to ask would be what do they (the Supermarkets) get for their money? Or at least what are they seeking in lieu of their donations? Or even when do they get it? The answer may well be a weak and watered down Supermarket Ombudsman - which is the last thing any of us needs, whether as a customer, a supplier or a farmer.