The pricing and payment strategies of the major retailers are driving increasing numbers of small suppliers into bankruptcy
The rate of food manufacturers going out of businesses has tripled in five years, with an 11% increase (amounting to168 firms) in the past year alone. The main cause, according to research by consultancy Moore Stephens reported in Foodmanufacture, was cut-throat competition between the UK's leading supermarkets. Small-scale suppliers, in particular, were found to be unable to keep up with the major retailers' pricing and payments strategies.
Duncan Swift of Moore Stephens described the retailers' tactics as 'extreme', and said that small suppliers were stuggling to stay afloat. Not only were they pressurised to supply at the lowest possible price, but 120-day credit terms were common.
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Published Friday 15 April 2016
Sustain: Sustain The alliance for better food and farming advocates food and agriculture policies and practices that enhance the health and welfare of people and animals, improve the working and living environment, enrich society and culture and promote equity.
