Grocery suppliers to the 14 designated large retailers
experienced fewer Code issues and improved treatment by the
retailers for the second year running, the 12th GCA survey
reveals today [25 June 2025].
The number of suppliers reporting that they faced a Code issue
fell from 33% in 2024 to 30% in 2025.
The survey also showed an improvement in Code compliance across
the retailers. Average perceived Code compliance rose from 91% in
2024 to 93% in 2025. This was largely driven by improvements at
the 5 retailers with the lowest perceived Code compliance in
2024.
There has been improved performance against issues prioritised by
the GCA:
- 17% of suppliers said they had experienced inadequate
processes and procedures in place to enable invoice discrepancies
to be resolved promptly, compared to 21% of suppliers in 2024.
- 11% of suppliers highlighted delays in payments, compared to
14% of suppliers in 2024.
Mark White, the Adjudicator, said:
I'm pleased that average Code compliance has continued to improve
across the sector and it's particularly encouraging that the
lowest 5 performing retailers have improved perceptions of their
overall compliance with the Groceries Code.
I will speak to each retailer about suppliers' views, and I
expect them to review their individual survey results and make
changes in response to issues impacting suppliers.
When I raise issues with retailers, I do so in a way that
protects suppliers' confidentiality and not reveal which
suppliers I've spoken to or even what products they supply.
Compliance performance
Overall compliance scores across the retailers ranged from 98% to
66%, with an average compliance across all 14 retailers of 93%
compared to 91% in 2024.
Perceptions of 8 retailers' Code compliance improved by a
percentage or more (when rounded to whole percentages), including
the 5 retailers with the lowest perceived compliance in 2024.
Waitrose had the highest perceived Code compliance at 98%.
Next steps
The GCA will work with the retailers on their plans to address
the issues raised by their suppliers in the survey.
YouGov will undertake a series of deep-dive interviews with
suppliers on the GCA's behalf. The results will provide deeper
insights into suppliers' experiences supplying the retailers and
will be shared at the GCA's 2025 annual conference on 30
September 2025. Details of the conference will be published on
the GCA website.
Further information
The 2025 GCA annual survey was open between 13 January and 23
February.
An information pack
(PDF, 253 KB, 6
pages) with a breakdown of the results is available.
