The planned merger of Asda and Sainsbury's has been exercising the minds of business analysts, grocery commentators and suppliers since it was announced in April.
The £14bn merger would render the new company bigger than all its rivals, wielding immense power within the supermarket sector. The 10 percent price cuts and £500m in savings that they declare will happen due to the merger, has worried some observers and some suppliers.
Mutterings about returns to the bad old days when suppliers were harried and bullied into giving unfeasible discounts on their wares by supermarket giants in the 1990s, abound.
Let’s hope that when and if the merger is rubber stamped that the Groceries Code Adjudicator (GCA) can continue to enforce the code of conduct for the top ten supermarkets with renewed vigour.
