Archived press release

MPs Told Tesco Must Be Tamed

17 June 2004

Britain's biggest supermarket, which holds its annual general meeting tomorrow (Friday 18^th June), is damaging communities, putting local shops out of business, and threatening the livelihoods of many UK farmers, a new briefing presented to MPs today reveals [1]. They will also discover how Tesco is failing to live up to its promises on ethical trading with overseas suppliers and the serious impacts this has on workers in South Africa and Latin America.

As UK grocery market leader, with over 27% of the UK market, Tesco is extremely powerful. But speakers from Friends of the Earth, Oxfam, the Association of Convenience Stores and the NFU council will reveal how Tesco is able to abuse its position because of weak controls and the lax government attitude to controlling supermarket power. The new briefing contains stories from local traders, overseas suppliers, pensioners and farmers which illustrate how Tesco's abuse of power impacts on people and communities.

These include:

• Shopkeepers in the Norfolk town of Stalham have told Friends of the Earth how Tesco has damaged their business and backtracked on promises made when it moved to the town.

• In the nearby market town of Sheringham, traders said a new Tesco store, recently granted planning permission despite strong local opposition, will destroy the town's special appeal to tourists and ruin their livelihoods.

• Pensioners in Witney, Oxfordshire are angry about the way Tesco took over stores in the town and threatened to close the post office in the stores, a vital local service. To date, Tesco has been allowed to take over convenience store chains with no investigation or intervention from the competition authorities.

• South African suppliers have described the way in which Tesco pushes prices down and makes unreasonable demands for expensive packaging that must be paid for by the supplier. Workers describe how this impacts on them in lack of employment rights and poor conditions including lack of protective clothing.

• Farmers describe how Tesco has ignored their pleas for fairer prices and the impacts this has on the environment and rural communities. They say a stricter code of practice is essential.

Friends of the Earth is warning that Tesco's practices are also damaging the environment. Its search for cheap food across the globe clocks up polluting food miles, while requirements for pristine and uniform fruit and vegetables results in the some food going to waste. And Tesco's demand for the cheap palm oil for processed foods is leading to rainforest destruction in south east Asia.

"Tesco's success has made it immensely powerful - a position that it is clearly abusing by putting small traders out of business and killing off local high streets, bullying suppliers, and damaging the environment through its never ending demand for cheap food. The evidence against Tesco can no longer be ignored. It is time for the Government to regulate and tame this corporate beast."

Friends of the Earth is calling on Government to tame Tesco by:

• More robust planning policies to protect town centres and high street shops including a cap on retail floorspace.

• A much stricter and statutory code of practice to ensure that suppliers are treated fairly

• A supermarket watchdog to ensure that the grocery market is operating in the interests of consumers, farmers and small retailers.

• A moratorium on Tesco taking over any more shops and chains including convenience stores

• Corporate accountability legislation which makes companies accountable for their effects on communities and the environment

Friends of the Earth will be attending Tesco's AGM on Friday together with farmers and communities affected by Tesco.

Notes

[1] Copies of the briefing for MPs is available at: www.foe.co.uk/resource/briefings/every_little_hurts.pdf (PDF format)

†To view PDF files you will need to download Adobe Acrobat Reader. Visually impaired users can get extra help with these documents from access.adobe.com.

If you're a journalist looking for press information please contact the Friends of the Earth media team on 020 7566 1649.

Published by Friends of the Earth Trust