Asda has been named as the UK’s worst supermarket in terms of how it treats its suppliers, according to the Guardian.
A report by the industry watchdog revealed that about 12% of Asda’s suppliers said that the supermarket chain ‘rarely or never’ complied with the Grocery Supply Code of Practice.
The Guardian reports that complaints raised against Asda included taking incorrect deductions from invoices without notice, requesting lump sums to make up profit margins, and ‘conducting abusive forensic audits of suppliers’ accounts’.
Some Progress
A spokesperson for Asda said, “We’ve listened to the GCA [Groceries Code Adjudicator] and worked to improve our ways of working with suppliers to ensure we’re doing our job in the best way we can".
“This includes ensuring our smaller suppliers are paid within 14 days, simplifying our processes, and eliminating some of our supplier charges and audits. We will also be introducing further changes, including the expansion of a dedicated help-desk to ensure our suppliers have a single point of contact to raise any concerns.”
The overall proportion of suppliers who said that they are experiencing breaches of code and conduct has fallen to 56% from 62% last year. Incorrect invoices remain the top issue.
Last year the Guardian reported that Asda was named the second worst supermarket chain for its treatment of suppliers, behind Morrisons.
© 2017 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Aidan O’Sullivan. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine.
