Food firms have until Sunday 29 March to complete the annual Groceries Code Adjudicator (GCA) survey of the groceries sector.
Christine Tacon, the GCA, said the survey was an “important source of information” in understanding the trading relationships between retailers and suppliers over the past 12 months.
She said she was particularly keen to hear micro and small suppliers to take part, as she would like to have more information on the Code issues they faced.
Unawareness among small suppliers
“Last year, around 300 micro and small suppliers responded to the survey and of those, 22% of small suppliers and 30% of micro suppliers said they were unaware of my role, compared to only 9% of large suppliers.”
Tacon asked manufacturers to be as open as possible when completing the survey.
She said: “My annual survey allows you to give honest feedback about your experience of how retailers are complying with the Groceries Supply Code of Practice (the Code).
“It allows me to collect the most comprehensive set of views on current Code-related issues facing suppliers.
‘Please be frank’
“Your views are very important, so please be frank when you complete the survey. Your response will help to show the retailers what progress they have made over the past year.”
The survey should take around 10 minutes to and all answers are collated and analysed by YouGov. No one will be identified without their consent and then only to the GCA.
The results of the survey will be announced in the GCA newsletter and website in June.
It will be Tacon’s final survey before she steps down as GCA in June, after six years in the role. The Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy is currently recruiting for her replacement.
