Shoppers call for fair trade watchdog

Eight in ten UK shoppers want a watchdog appointed to ensure that supermarkets treat suppliers fairly, and to penalise those which don’t, a new survey has revealed.

In the YouGov poll, commissioned by Traidcraft, 81% of shoppers branded supermarket tactics, such as paying suppliers less than agreed, ‘unacceptable’.

Most shoppers (59%) said they would consider switching supermarkets if they found out that these tactics were used by their main supermarket.

Seventy eight per cent did not know that no independent body exists to oversee supermarket’s behaviour towards suppliers.

The results are released at a time when Tesco stands accused of bullying farmers and other suppliers into cutting prices by more than they can afford.

The National Farmers’ Union recently accused supermarkets of demonstrating the same kind of greed towards suppliers as the banking greed that sparked the international credit crunch.

In a statement, the NFU said that the research clearly shows that consumers are increasingly concerned that supermarkets are abusing their power, making farmers reduce their prices to levels that are unprofitable and unacceptable.

In a similar vein, recent research by leading economist Professor Roger Clarke discovered that an ombudsman would result in more choice for consumers, better products, and, in some cases, lower prices.