Loblaws signs on to code – kind of

 

Loblaws has finally signed on to the voluntary industry code of practice, but said it’s participation is contingent on all player signing on.

Walmart and Costco remain holdouts.

The code has been three years in the making and is basically a restraint on the bullying the large supermarket chains have practiced in dealings with suppliers.

The one that got a lot of attention was a discount on suppliers’ invoices in 2020.

There are, however, more than 200 discounts, rebates and allowances the big chains impose on suppliers, such as a discount for a percentage of canned goods for dents, whether or not there actually are dented cans, charges for placing goods at eye level and at the end of aisles, for stickers on grab attention along aisles and for providing warehouse space for new products or new sizes for familiar products.