Closing the stable door

It is just over 6 months since the UK food industry was embroiled in the effects of the horsemeat scandal where horsemeat was passed off as beef. The so called “Horsegate Affair”.

At the time the Chartered Institute of Purchase and Supply reported that almost half of supply chain managers “do not have a means of monitoring their entire supply chain”.

Even more damaging was their comment that “how few chief executives and boards take supply chain issues seriously”.

Initially the effects of the horsemeat scandal were dramatic. In the first two months following the reports of horsemeat being found in ready meals sales of these products were down 5% year-on-year, frozen food sales dropped 13% and there was a fall of 3% in chilled ready meal value sales.

One of today’s buzzwords is “traceability” – it being incumbent on companies to monitor all aspects of their supplier’s performance with failure to do so having far reaching and damaging consequences.

In the eye of the storm it appeared that the days of a “cosy” relationship between Buyer and Supplier, the archetypal nod and a wink would have been consigned to history.

Now six months later nobody has faced any penalties or sanctions for what was described as the worst scandal in the history of the UK supermarkets.

In reality its business as usual and a further indicator of the power and influence that these groups exert in the UK.