All growers ever ask for is fairness. That’s why the work that the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs committee (EFA) is doing in its inquiry looking at fairness in the supply chain is vital to get right.
Is it fair, for example, that ornamental growers, with a specific turnover, supplying retailers, be left out of the Grocery Supplier Code of Practice?
The NFU thinks not. It has called for the Government to reduce the turnover threshold of GSCOP (Grocery Supplier Code of Practice) to include more retailers, and food service businesses as well as ornamentals supplied to grocery retailers within the GSCOP and regulated by the GCA.
With more pressures than ever on growers and other parts of the supply chain, it is crucial that everyone has a level playing field when it comes to fairness, surely?
It is interesting to see that the EFA committee will consider how profitability and risks are shared through the food supply chain, and how the existing systems of monitoring and regulation are functioning.
For a long time, growers bore the brunt of retailers competing with each other and the resulting price wars which resulted in growers having their margins ‘squeezed’ even further and sometimes ‘unfairly’ taking on the costs of promotions etc.
Thankfully since the Grocery Supplier Code of Practice and the introduction of a Groceries Code Adjudicator with ‘teeth’, these unfair practices have significantly reduced.
As the committee rightly looks into issues around access to healthy and affordable food, especially for low-income households, it is essential that as retailers continue to reduce prices instore, growers are not affected by this either.
It is also good news that the NFU has called for government to recognise the horticulture sector as energy intensive and to be included in its energy price support schemes, as well as its call for a minimum 5-year rolling seasonal worker scheme.
Let’s hope these recommendations get implemented as growers continue to battle to create a viable and sustainable future for the next generation of producers.
The September issue also includes articles on,
- Plant import checks to be delayed again
- Four Oaks show preview
- UK border control hit Dutch exports
- Lone retailer faces order inquiry
To read these and more from “The Commercial Greenhouse Grower” subscribe today – find out more here.
