Grocery Guru Ep4: Discussing the New Grocery Code Adjudicator

Mark White has taken-over from Christine Tacon. What will the new grocery code adjudicator want from the named retailers? And will he name Amazon in 2021?

You Can Read the Full New Grocery Code Adjudicator Episode Transcript Below:

Darren A. Smith:

Welcome to week four of The Grocery Guru with our grocery guru, Andrew Grant, hello.

Andrew Grant:

Hi, Darren, how are you?

Darren A. Smith:

I'm good. We're not even going to talk about L-O-C-K, up or down. Not mentioning it, not allowed.

Andrew Grant:

Okay, day one, 26 to go.

Darren A. Smith:

He mentioned it. Okay, moving swiftly on. So we've talked about Urban Fulfillment Centers. We've talked about Category Management is Dead. What are we talking about this week?

Andrew Grant:

Oh, you missed week three.

Darren A. Smith:

Oh God, we did.

Andrew Grant:

Well, we were talking about what we can't talk about, and how-

New Grocery Adjudicator- Mark White

Darren A. Smith:

Yes.

Andrew Grant:

Yes, and how difficult Christmas is going to be. And if you think about it, we spoke about that last Thursday and it was on Saturday morning we all found out, that actually our worst fears, even worst fears were coming true.

Darren A. Smith:

I know. Do you see what I did there? I didn't even talk about it. I just went straight over it. What are we talking about this week?

Andrew Grant:

Okay. Let's say how up with the latest grocery-news you are. I want to talk about the latest grocery kid on the block. A gentleman by the name of Mr Mark White. Any ideas?

Darren A. Smith:

I think you'll talk about the GCA or the Groceries Code Adjudicator, also known as the Grocery [Tsar 00:00:01:22], am I right?

Andrew Grant:

Oh, very good. Yes, you obviously read your industry news or you've got the right alert set up on your phone. Yes, Mark White took over as the UK's second Groceries Code Adjudicator on Monday [crosstalk 00:00:01:41]-

Darren A. Smith:

Okay, so the previous one was Christine Tacon, is that right?

Andrew Grant:

Christine who we all know very well. She had spent what? Five years, actually, five years in the role, essentially defining what the code was. Because when she started, it was just this big blob of legislation that was completely new to the UK. Nobody quite knew what it was, what it would do. And she put, breathed life into it, and breathed form and focus into it, I guess.

Darren A. Smith:

All right. So just for everyone who thinks, "What the hell are these guys talking about?" And if you're in the world of UK grocery, you really need to know this stuff. So I'm just going to test my knowledge a bit and check with Andrew, who is the guru? So I think the order was passed in parliament in 2009? And the order was 16 pages of law that contained [GSCOP], did I get some of that right?

Andrew Grant:

Yeah. Part of the Enterprise Act, which went legal in 2010, although it went through parliament in 2009. So you are correct.

Darren A. Smith:

Cool, cool. So it's roughly 16 pages, GSCOP was five pages of this order. GSCOP was the bit we all talk about and GSCOP is a piece of law that encourages suppliers to, sorry encourages supermarkets to look after their suppliers more, fairly?

Andrew Grant:

I wouldn't say, "Encourage," because it's a law, it's mandated. But yeah, the reason it was essentially brought into existence was this perception, whether it's the perception of reality, that supermarkets would use their buying power to exploit suppliers needlessly.

Darren A. Smith:

Okay.

Andrew Grant:

And-

Darren A. Smith:

What ... Sorry, go on.

Andrew Grant:

No, I was going to say, you only have to read the press over the years about bully boy-tactics, et cetera. You and I being in the industry, probably in typical tabloid-fashion, slightly exaggerated.

Darren A. Smith:

Yeah, slightly. All right. So the other part I wanted to dispel, is the myth. Now, when you and I do training,