Major retailer buyers’ have reverted to pre-pandemic and cost of living behaviours regarding cost price increases, the latest report by the Groceries Code Adjudicator found.

At a recent conference in London the Groceries Code Adjudicator, Mark White,  presented the results of a deep dive by YouGov experts into the findings of his July suppliers’ survey and subsequent in-depth interviews with nearly 30 direct suppliers to the supermarkets.

The report found that while the volume of CPI requests that characterised the ‘cost of living’ crisis had calmed, a raft of categories are still experiencing commodity cost pressures. It found that supermarkets’ willingness to even discuss price increases was “wearing thin”, leading to “avoidance tactics or flat-out refusals to engage” by buyers.

The report claims supermarkets have shown less “compassion and understanding” in the past year. The report also raises concern over a series of “veiled threats” by supermarkets to delist suppliers if they rock the boat on price.

It found more than 14% of suppliers claimed to have had products delisted without reasonable notice in the past year. White sees it as “far too high”.

Mark White said that “Several suppliers have also told me about retailers using the threat of delisting as a tactic during negotiations.”

The Grocer commented: “Against the background of this behaviour the arrival of Defra’s proposed EPR fees from October 2025 is already worrying suppliers. One of the Designated Retailers at a recent conference, promised “robust” conversations with suppliers trying to pass the costs of EPR on to supermarkets and ultimately shoppers, despite Defra’s insistence that it expects 80% of the cost to be passed on to consumers.”

If you or your sales teams are locked into one of these discussions, did you realise that:

  • fair and lawful trading is at the heart of GSCOP (Groceries Supply Code of Practice),
  • the GCA has published golden rules for cost price increases as part of GSCOP.

If you need to train your teams on how GSCOP can help and support them and are looking for easy access to training, then why not contact the British Brands Group which lobbies on behalf of suppliers of all sizes for both fair trading and effective brand protection.

To support your customer and legal teams, the British Brands Group provides a range of functional training with courses covering GSCOP, Competition law and compliance and Trading with Amazon, whether as a vendor or a seller.

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