The UK’s Groceries Code Adjudicator (GCA) has published an updated guidance pack to help businesses that supply food and grocery products to large supermarkets understand their rights under the Groceries Supply Code of Practice (GSCOP).
The document, known as the “Code Confident” pack, explains how the UK grocery supply rules work and how suppliers can raise concerns about supermarket practices.
It forms part of the regulator’s effort to improve transparency and encourage suppliers to report potential breaches of the Code.
The Groceries Supply Code of Practice regulates how the UK’s largest grocery retailers deal with their direct suppliers. The GCA monitors and enforces the Code to ensure supermarkets treat suppliers lawfully and fairly across areas such as payments, promotions and supply agreements.
What the groceries code covers
The Groceries Supply Code of Practice sets rules for how major UK supermarkets manage relationships with direct suppliers. The Code applies to grocery retailers with annual UK grocery sales of more than £1 billion that are formally designated by the Competition and Markets Authority.
These retailers include companies such as Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda, Morrisons, Aldi, Lidl, Amazon, Marks & Spencer and Waitrose, among others.
The Code aims to prevent unfair supply chain practices. For example, it requires supermarkets to:
- pay suppliers on time
- avoid unexpected changes to supply agreements
- compensate suppliers for certain forecasting errors
- avoid charging suppliers for shrinkage or wastage in stores
The rules also restrict certain listing fees and set out procedures supermarkets must follow if they plan to remove a supplier from their range.
Guidance for suppliers
The updated Code Confident pack provides a practical overview of the regulation and explains how suppliers can identify potential problems when working with supermarkets.
It includes frequently asked questions about the Code, a list of retailers covered by the regulation, and contact details for Code Compliance Officers within each retailer. These officers act as a first point of contact for suppliers with concerns about compliance.
The pack also highlights training opportunities to help suppliers understand how the Code works in practice. According to the GCA, supermarket buyers must receive regular training on the Code, meaning suppliers without similar knowledge may be at a disadvantage during negotiations.
Encouraging suppliers to report issues
A key aim of the guidance is to encourage suppliers to raise concerns about potential breaches of the grocery supply rules.
The Groceries Code Adjudicator can investigate suspected violations and arbitrate disputes between supermarkets and suppliers. The office also collects information from suppliers to identify recurring problems in the grocery supply chain.
Suppliers can report issues directly to the GCA, through an anonymous reporting platform known as “Tell the GCA”, or by contacting a retailer’s Code Compliance Officer. The regulator states that information provided by suppliers is treated in strict confidence.
The GCA was established in 2013 following a UK competition investigation into supermarket supply practices.
The office now acts as the sector’s regulator, overseeing compliance with the Groceries Supply Code of Practice and supporting fairer business relationships between retailers and suppliers.
The updated guide is intended to help suppliers become “Code confident”, ensuring they understand the rules that govern the UK grocery supply chain and know how to respond if problems arise when dealing with major supermarkets. Top of Form
