On 2013-09-01 08:47:18 +0100, Bob Hobden said:

"Sacha" wrote

Not so long ago I told Ray that I'd read of a wholesale nursery going
belly up. Today, he learned a bit more about it and said it was
because it had a £3 million order from a supermarket chain which
suddenly decided to halve that order. Then it said that if they potted
the remaining order on, they might buy them. They didn't.
Personally, I don't understand why anyone puts their entire future and
livelihood into the hands of one customer. But neither do I understand
the morals of a customer who will do that to a supplier. The more I
hear of this sort of thing, the less inclined I am to use supermarkets
and am minded to go back to the old days of shopping at small
individual shops for every need, wherever possible. It's less
convenient, it takes longer and it may well be a bit more expensive but
if supermarkets can do this to their suppliers, it's a short step from
that to "you can only buy what we offer you, there is nothing else" and
all our high street shops are gone and so are our choices.

This has been standard in most Supermarket contracts for years. Indeed
if they decide to do a BOGOFF for example then they halve the price
they pay to the supplier in most cases.

I know it's standard practice, it's the morality of it that gets me. I
entirely appreciate that the grower was very unwise but in the current
financial climate, I'm not sure he or she can be blamed for grasping a
potentially huge and maybe business-saving, order. Anyway, that's
another one gone for good, jobs, home perhaps, career over. According
to some of the reps who come in here, small nurseries, especially
wholesalers, are failing weekly.
--

Sacha
South Devon