FOE Criticises Tesco For Putting Small Traders Out of Business

Friends of the Earth's 2004 article "Roll Up, Roll Up, to See the Incredible Untamed Tesco Beast" looks into how Tesco's business practices include bullying suppliers, killing off local high streets and damaging the environment.

Quotes from the 18 Jun 2004 article:

Friends of the Earth Food and Farming Campaigner Sandra Bell said:

"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."

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.

See the full article [here].