The 2024 Annual Food and Grocery Code Independent Reviewer’s Survey is underway, with the federal government encouraging farmers and suppliers to submit feedback on their dealings with the major supermarkets – Coles, Woolworths, Aldi and Metcash.
The survey monitors compliance with the code, which mandates conduct between supermarkets and their suppliers.
The government said tracking and reporting on supermarket conduct was key to cracking down on anti‑competitive behaviour in the food and grocery sector, “which is a priority for the government”.
This year’s survey incorporates recommendations of Dr Craig Emerson’s Review of the Food and Grocery Code of Conduct to monitor suppliers’ experience agreeing to exceptions to the Code and retribution concerns.
These changes to the survey form part of the Government’s commitment to implement all recommendations of the review, announced in June this year.
The government will introduce legislation later this year to enact substantial multi‑million-dollar penalties for serious breaches of the code. The Government will also give the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission new powers to issue infringement notices where it has reasonable grounds to believe a provision has been breached.
The new mandatory code with strengthened dispute resolution mechanisms will come into effect from 1 April 2025.
Suppliers eligible for participation in the survey will have received correspondence from the Independent Reviewer, Chris Leptos, containing the survey link.
The survey closes on 26 November and results will be published with the Independent Reviewer’s Annual Report. To see the previous years’ results, including how the major supermarkets rate against each other and the annual reports, go to Grocery Code Reviewer annual reports.
