The Groceries Code Adjudicator (GCA) is inviting pig industry businesses that supply retailers direct to two roundtable meetings during the spring.
The GCA supplier workshops will take place on March 27, in London, and April 3, in Manchester.
For direct suppliers only, the discussions will focus on two of Adjudicator Christine Tacon’s ‘Top 5’ issues: ‘pay to stay’ and forecasting.
In a letter to NPA senior policy advisor Georgina Crayford, Mrs Tacon said: “There will be an opportunity for suppliers to hear more about my role at these events and for one-to-one meetings with me.”
Suppliers can register for the events at: [email protected]
Mrs Tacon, stressed that it was important for her hear at first-hand from direct suppliers of groceries about some of the issues affecting their supply to the 10 retailers regulated under the Groceries Supply Code of Practice (GSCOP).
“Often it is with smaller groups of suppliers and in closed discussions that I get to hear about important information that helps me to monitor retailer compliance with the Code.”
She said she was willing to speak at events organised by NPA, large or small, where direct suppliers are present in the coming months, or to have one-to-one meetings with suppliers in private if they prefer.
A Sunday Times article highlighted some of the ‘shocking’ tactics supermarkets are using to obtain money from suppliers including demanding they pay up to £25,000 for charity dinner tickets, according to Mrs Tacon’s investigations.
In its submission to a Government consultation on extending the GCA’s powers, the NPA called for its remit to be extended beyond the retailer-processor relationship.