Watchdog intervenes in Yorkshire farmer’s £3.7m sprout dispute with Aldi
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W Clappison Ltd claims its supply agreement was ended at planting time without reasonable notice. The grocery industry watchdog is to make a rare intervention in a Yorkshire sprout grower’s £3.7m legal case against Aldi over the discount chain’s decision to terminate a long-term supply deal.
In papers filed at the high court, W Clappison Ltd, which produced sprouts for Aldi’s UK arm for 13 years, said its supply agreement was ended in February last year at planting time without reasonable notice so it was unable to find new clients immediately. It said it was forced to cease sprout production and sell off its machinery.
The farmer, who claims to have been Yorkshire’s last commercial sprout grower, says in the papers his business had bought land and equipment based on assurances of ongoing demand from Aldi, which represented almost 40% of its sales, with other customers including Morrisons and Iceland.
The lawsuit alleges Aldi’s behaviour was in breach of the groceries supply code of practice (GSCOP), a set of rules for dealing with suppliers by which large retailers must abide. The rules are overseen by the Groceries Code Adjudicator (GCA) – currently Mark White – who can carry out investigations and issue fines of up to 1% of UK sales if he finds wrongdoing.
