The number of suppliers reporting Groceries Code-related issues in their dealings with the UK's ten largest supermarkets has fallen.
A survey of more than 1,100 suppliers carried out on behalf of Christine Tacon's Groceries Code Adjudicator (GCA) office by YouGov found that 70 per cent said they had experienced issues which they believed to be in breach of the code over the last 12 months - down from 79 per cent the previous year.
The survey also found that a larger proportion of suppliers would consider raising issues with Tacon - up nine per cent to 46 per cent. Concerns about retribution, though, still held the majority of suppliers back when it came to making complaints.
Speaking today (22 June) at the second-ever GCA annual conference, held in Westminster, Tacon said: 'We still have some way to go in important areas, but this is a clear sign we are on the right track.
'Suppliers are more aware of the GCA and its work, and fewer now believe the GCA will not be able to do anything if they bring an issue to me.'
However, Tacon added that she was not 'proud' that seven out of ten suppliers still feel that they have experienced a breach of the code over the last year.
She also noted: 'Not enough people have approached me. That's why this survey has been so useful to me - it's a dipstick, or a way of people telling me about what is really going on.'
Tacon wants to challenge trade associations to do more to raise awareness of the GCA office, in the hope that groups of suppliers coming forward in strong numbers - therefore reducing the risk of their specific case or cases being identified by the retailer they have an issue with - will erode some of the retribution fears held by suppliers.
The past year has been one of milestones, Tacon told delegates, including the launch of the GCA's first investigation.
That investigation, into Tesco's supplier relations, got under way in February, and Tacon said at the time that it would be six to nine months before she revealed her findings. She confirmed today that we can expect to find out what she unearthed towards the back end of that timescale.
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