Tesco takeover1 June 2005
Tesco, who control nearly a third of the grocery market, faced challenges from an alliance of campaigners at their AGM on 24th June.
Tesco's Board faced questions on a range of subjects from conditions for workers to the loss of small independent shops. One shareholder compared Tesco to "a plague of locusts".
A butcher, baker and greengrocer subjected to the 'Tesco Takeover' outside the AGM
Tesco boast about their commitment to fair trade and "corporate responsibility". But our new report, The Tesco Takeover (PDF), shows that their practices are far from fair.
Prices have been pushed down so far that some UK farmers are on the brink of bankruptcy. And 2,000 independent stores went out of business in the last year alone.
Tesco and climate change
Supermarket practices are also driving climate change. Supermarkets transport millions of tonnes of produce around the world, and use some of the most energy-inefficient buildings in the sector.
Tesco failed to reach its target of cutting carbon dioxide emissions by 4.2 per cent last year. Its stores consume nearly twice as much energy as the national average for the sector.
Tesco is lauded as a British success story but the image is a deceptive one and it is beginning to tarnish. Farmers and consumers are paying the price of its uncontrolled expansion here and overseas.
Vicki Hird, Senior Food Campaigner,
Friends of the Earth
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© Mike J Wells/Friends of the Earth
