Discount supermarket Aldi has been taken to court by long-term vegetable supplier W Clappison who claim they were delisted without sufficient notice in February 2023 and after the 2023-24 sprout crop had already been planted.
The East Yorkshire company, which was run by John Clappison and Matthew Rawson, has grown brussel sprouts for some 23 years and supplied Aldi since 2010. The retailer represented around 47 per cent of W Clappison’s business in 2022-23.
In documents filed by Yorkshire-based law firm Gordons, the grower states that Aldi had repeatedly assured the business it could be confident in Aldi as a customer and therefore make the necessary investment in the business, including a £400,000 packing facility. According to City.am, the claim also states that ‘the business made clear that it could only invest in land for the supply of sprouts by borrowing money and was therefore dependent on the continuation of supply. It stated that Aldi was aware of the investments made by W Clappison and “the fact that they were made in reliance on Aldi’s assurances”.’
As a result of the delisting, W Clappison was forced to cease sprout production. The company claims it was entitled to 24 months’ notice of any delisting and is seeking damages of £3,694,518.15 plus interest and costs, including compensation for breach of contract as well as the loss business from being forced to terminate other supply agreements with Morrisons and Iceland.
However, now the Groceries Code Adjudicator (GCA) has applied to intervene in the case. A spokesperson for GCA Mark White told The Grocer, “The GCA has applied to intervene in the proceedings to assist the court in resolving the groceries code matters in dispute between the parties.”
An Aldi spokesperson added the supermarket was ”disappointed” by the claims made by W Clappison as “we go to great lengths to follow the relevant codes of best practice for managing supplier relationships. This is why we have consistently been ranked as one of the top supermarkets for conducting relationships fairly, in good faith and without duress in the GSCOP annual survey.”
Although this is not the first time a produce supplier has sued a retailer, it is the first time that the GCA has applied to become involved in such a case.
