Tesco Group Chief Executive Philip Clarke was in the headlines again this week after making a rousing speech at the National Farmers Union (NFU) Conference regarding the nation’s on-going ‘horsegate’ scandal.

Tesco Group Chief Executive Philip Clarke was in the headlines again this week after making a rousing speech at the National Farmers Union (NFU) Conference regarding the nation’s on-going ‘horsegate’ scandal.

This conference gave Mr Clarke a fantastic opportunity to show some real leadership in this area and it was great to see him take such a powerful and emotive stance.

By using this opportunity to assert his views on the subject, Mr Clarke was able to position Tesco as a company at the forefront of the movement towards higher standards and a commitment to sourcing food more locally. By calling for real change in the industry in this way, and effectively acting as a spokesman for the entire sector in the process, he has managed to offer some reassurance at a time when most consumers feel as if they’ve been taken for a rather uncomfortable ride.

It’s also interesting to see that, rather than shirking responsibility and letting suppliers take all the heat, he has confronted the issue and is ready to see this challenge through on Tesco’s behalf. And, make no mistake, it will be a challenge. As the UK financial services sector knows, it can be extremely difficult to regain customer confidence once it has been lost.

News reports are already telling us that local butchers are doing a roaring trade and that Scottish beef products are flying off the shelves as the buying public looks for greater surety over what they’re actually eating. At the same time, however, intense supermarket competition has educated the British shopper to expect cheap food. More than 90% of British consumers still consider price an important factor when shopping for food, according to Kantar Worldpanel, compared with the 73% who take health into consideration.

It’s a tricky balance to manage, yet Mr Clarke has realised that a huge opportunity now exists to create a supply chain that customers can understand and have confidence in. As such, he has committed to making sure that Tesco re-examines all aspects of its supply chain, as well as the processes it uses, so that the company can be totally confident in how its products are being sourced.

That may sound a bit like closing the stable door after the horse has bolted but that’s unfair. Tesco’s success to date has been achieved by focusing on the customer and Mr Clarke used his speech to the NFU to reaffirm his commitment to ensuring that Tesco’s entire product range offers quality - whether that means its ‘Everyday Value’ range or its ‘Finest’ range.

Mr Clarke says that he will never accept ‘the patronising argument’ that somehow a value product shouldn’t meet the same exacting standards as the core range - and why should he? Instead of compromising on quality, all of Britain’s food retailers would be better off challenging every aspect of the supply chain to see where improvements can be made, where waste can be reduced and where inefficiencies can be resolved. Although it’s very good to see Tesco taking the lead in this area, let’s hope that it’s not just a one-horse race.

  • Dan Coen, director, Zolfo Cooper