in thinking that Co-op should not be asking £10k+ from their suppliers?

[justcross]

Co-op are asking all their suppliers to give £10,000 plus to them to help them through this hard time. Suppliers are already paying for the computer system that they had installed. Poor things....suppliers are now going to have a really tough time keeping people employed. Please be aware that the cheap prices we all expect are because someone else is paying the price. It has to stop, mafia behaviour should not be acceptable.

[southeastastra]

oh i love the co-op i'll give them a tenner

[CogitoErgoSometimes]

£10k! Pah!!! That's cheap. ASDA want a 4.5% kickback on everything you supply and that's gone up from 3.5%.

[Ormirian]

Not heard about this but TBH it's not that surprising. We are expected to virtually hand cash to the supermarkets for the honour of supplying them as it is

I guess suppliers are going to the wall too but I don't suppose the supermarkets will be giving them handouts.

[justcross]

it's just feeling so bloody helpless that's so annoying. We work so hard, employ people, pay our way..just...and then this! But they are all at it, and until the GSCOP comes into being, we are at their mercy. What makes me mad is that the Co-op pretend they're all nice and holier than thou, at least Tesco, Morrisons and Asda don't pretend to be fair! If all suppliers told Co-op where to get off, they would think again, as they're only as good as the stock they have. I wish the industry could pull together and go on strike for 1 day...that's all it would take! here's hoping!!!!

[Lulumama]

what happens if you don't or can't give the money??

[justcross]

souteastatra....£10 thousand not a tenner!!

[justcross]

You lose the business if you won't or can't pay. I'm pretty sure it's not legal! But who's going to argue....this is called extortion.

[nickelbabe]

well, at least the Co-op is beign honest about it.
unlike some of the supermarkets I could name (oh, like bastards Tesco's) who instead force their suppliers to give them goods at less than cost price, just so they can "pass the saving onto the customer"
And a lot of them don't have any choice, because they're only allowed to supply that particualr chain, and if they don't, then they might end up with stacks upon stacks of goods they can't sell to anyone else.
(it's not just tesco's - i know someone who used to work for a well-known pharmaceutical company, and Sainsbury's were bullying them into supplying "own brand" medicines at less than cost-price)

[Lulumama]

is it not unenforceable? an unconscionable
bargain?

[Mandy2003]

Not read any background to this - can anyone give a link? I have heard of supermarkets having meat and dairy farmers over a barrel, but as for donations and kick-backs - well

If it is the Co-op, they only have themselves to blame IMO. My local branch is out of stock of even basic items eg potatoes, bananas very frequently. The manager says he orders the stock but head office veto it.

Also, they have cut back on staff in the last 6 months or so and now the queues are so massive that people end up walking out leaving baskets of shopping worth £30 or £40 behind.

[Ormirian]

Don't TALK about Tesco! Arrghhhhhh! They have been giving me grief all week and I HATE them!!

[justcross]

Lulumama- I'm sure that right. But who's going to enforce it?

[justcross]

Actually, knowing that there I'm not alone is quite comforting! How about class action,chaps?

[nickelbabe]

I wish my suppliers would give me some money.
I don't spend enough though.
At the minute, my major supplier is on about trying to reduce my discount (books are sold at discount on rrp, rather than cost price/retail price)- which would be graet but I've lost so much revenue in the past 6 months.

[GetOrfMo1Land]

I work in procurement, and work with someone who used to be a senior procurement manager at a supermarket. The practice was you effectively hauled all your suppliers in every year, say they had to knock off x% off the price of everything they supplied (sometimes as high as 10%) and if they didn't play ball, their contract would be terminated.

The supply contracts were set up in a way that they could be terminated at will.

People played ball as they were so desperate for the percieved continuity and volume of being a supermarket supplier.

My colleague loathed it, he said you had to be very hardnosed as you knew that screwing the price would severly impact the supplier, and that removing the contract would do so as well.

Iwould never in a million years work as a buyer for a supermarket. Their practices are appalling.

[KaraStarbuckThrace]

Is that all? Co-op have asked a lot more than that from DH's company - who are (along with other suppliers) trying to impose price increases as raw material prices have increased by as much as 30% in the past year.
Thing is all the suppliers are in the same boat - they either want the price increase or they will turn the business down because they cannot run the contracts at a loss.

[southeastastra]

justcross i know i'm not stoopid

[GetOrfMo1Land]

[potential]

"Is that all?" Kara - a small business might be sunk by that small amount

So, have I got this right? Co-op decide things are a bit tight at the moment (and bear in mind they are a huge company) so they ask their suppliers, many of whom are small local businesses, to give them money to help them out, and if they don't, they'll withdraw the contract?

WTAF? Is this not playground bullying on a grand scale? Blackmail?

Realistically, a small company may have to work their bollocks off for months to cover this amount of money, and then what will Co-op do in a years time? Ask for more?

Would there be a way to get together with other suppliers going through the same thing and stage a strike or some sort of legal action? (although, as I write this, I can imagine how unlikely that would be)

OP - unless there is a way to refuse Co-ops demands, I wonder if there would be a way to find other outlets, so you are not at the mercy of their bullying tactics.
Keep your chin up, these things will pass :)