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Tesco turns the screw

Published:  24 November, 2008

I hear Tesco's turn has come again to turn the screw on their wine suppliers: improved terms have allegedly been required and deadlines set for compliance.

I hear Tesco's turn has come again to turn the screw on their wine suppliers: improved terms have allegedly been required and deadlines set for compliance.

I feel sorry for those who have to deal with these demands. Searching through your cost structure for possible savings when every single item is on the up is soul destroying. It is also futile, as all you end up doing is allocating resources differently from what you had originally planned. The little fat left in the wine supply chain makes the difference between life and death.

These exercises also take an enormous amount of time. If, however, they ensure your business with Tesco (or one of the other supermarket chains) is safe, one could argue that it is worth the investment for both agents and suppliers.

Managing buyers' demands, extortionate and unpleasant as they may be has become a major part of the role of a national account manager, commercial manager or director. Which is why these jobs have become more skilled and better paid.

Despite believing the rewards of these "retailers fundraising initiatives" are minimal, I cannot see them ending: once demands are formulated, with instructions coming from higher up, it becomes the interest of both buyer and supplier to make it look like they have generated more funds. That is what they are paid for.

Anne Burchett is the former UK MD of Castel and is now studying for an MA in creative writing.

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