Farmers face 'bullying behaviour' by supermarkets

Dairy farmer, Haydn Evans says dealing with supermarkets is "always a challenge", while chicken and sheep farmer Robert Powell spoke of having a more positive experience

Welsh farmers face "bullying behaviour" by supermarkets, MPs have heard.

David Chadwick, the Liberal Democrat MP for Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe told Parliament that "ongoing mistreatment" included delayed payments, variations in orders and being dropped by retailers.

The MP urged ministers to strengthen the Groceries Code Adjudicator (GCA), which is responsible for regulating relationships between retailers and suppliers, claiming resolving issues was too often a case of "David vs Goliath".

The UK government said the adjudicator had been effective and its performance was regularly reviewed.

"Supermarkets helped themselves to a 97% surge in profits in the last year alone, they passed on higher prices to customers during the inflationary crisis, yet they are not handing on a fair share of that to producers," said Chadwick.

He warned the UK's food security was being put "at risk" by farmers being forced out of business and an increasing reliance on imported food, adding the GCA had improved the relationship between farmers and retailers but needed to evolve.

"By expanding its remit, providing additional resources, and enhancing its enforcement powers, the government can ensure that the GCA truly works for farmers and producers and ensures fairness in the food supply chain," he said.

The issue was a hot topic of discussion among a gathering of farmers at the National Farming Union conference in London.

"It's always a challenge when you're dealing with supermarkets," said Haydn Evans, a dairy farmer from Carmarthen.

"Some of the practices that we've encountered with supermarkets over the years have been, for example, where we've been successful in getting a small increase in the milk price, we've only found within a matter of months that we have been delisted in that supermarket, and they have gone and sourced it cheaper, so it's a constant driving down of prices to the farm gate."

He believes the regulatory system needs a "root and branch review".

'Let's have the same rules'

Robert Powell, a chicken and sheep farmer from Builth Wells, Powys, said he had had a more positive experience of dealing with supermarkets.

"I think we're lucky with our chicken, we've got a very good relationship with our producers," he said.

But he added he was worried that challenging operational conditions for UK farmers might leave them unable to meet demand, forcing supermarkets to buy chickens from abroad.

Imported chicken must be "grown to the same standards that we adhere to in this country", said Mr Powell.

"It's no good having them selling it cheap, lesser standards. Let's have the same rules," he added.

'Highly regulated'

Andrew Opie, director of food and sustainability at trade body the British Retail Consortium said retailers' relationships with their direct suppliers "are highly regulated and overseen by an independent groceries adjudicator".

He added retailers "continue to do everything they can to support British farmers".

"They are the biggest buyers of their produce, market it in store and use clear country of origin labelling to help customers make easy choices," he said.

Mr Opie said retailers "support the new agricultural adjudicator to ensure fairness for farmers and strengthen our supply chains".

The UK government's business and trade minister Justin Madders MP said there was "strong evidence" that the GCA had been an effective regulator, since it was established in 2013.

He added improvements in retailers adhering to the code were "evident from the annual survey", with average compliance increasing from 75% in 2014, when the code was introduced, to 91% in 2024.