Know Your Grocery Code program for fresh food suppliers to supermarkets

The Australian Government is supporting farmers and fresh food suppliers to secure a fairer deal when negotiating with large supermarkets. Funding has been awarded to the National Farmers Federation (NFF) and AUSVEG to deliver the Know Your Grocery Code program.

Beginning in the second half of 2026, the program is designed to provide training to fresh food suppliers across Australia to help them better understand their rights under the mandatory Food and Grocery Code of Conduct. It includes online and in-person workshops across metropolitan, regional and rural areas and will be accessible to all suppliers including rural producers and First Nations growers.

“A tomato grower in Bundaberg or an apple producer in the Huon Valley shouldn’t need a legal team to understand their rights. Perishability shifts power towards the big buyers. That’s why we’re helping suppliers know the rules, use the Code, and bargain on a more even footing.” said Assistant Minister for Productivity, Competition, Charities and Treasury Dr Andrew Leigh MP.

Industry support welcomed by NFF and AUSVEG

The NFF Horticulture Council Executive Officer Richard Shannon said the investment was a meaningful step towards a more level playing field for fresh produce suppliers.

“Having rights under the Code matters. But those rights are only as strong as the capacity of suppliers to understand them, assert them, and act on them. That takes knowledge, confidence and skills, and that’s exactly what this investment will build,” Shannon said.

“Fresh produce suppliers face real structural pressures when negotiating with large grocery businesses. Products are perishable, growing cycles are long, and significant costs are committed well before a buyer makes any decisions. This program will help suppliers go into those conversations better prepared and better protected.”

AUSVEG CEO Michael Coote said Code training for fresh produce suppliers was timely given the continuing severe production cost surges facing Australian vegetable growers flowing from the Middle East conflict, and persistent challenges securing viable returns for their produce from their customers.

“Supermarket retailers remain the dominant channel through which Australians purchase most of their vegetables, and are the major — if not only — customer for many vegetable growers. Australian vegetable growers supply 10,000 tonnes of fresh produce into the domestic market each day, and 98% of the fresh vegetables consumed in Australia, so the dynamic between the major retailers and grower-suppliers is crucial to Australia’s food security,” Coote said.

“The now mandatory Food and Grocery Code includes enhancements like clearer good-faith obligations, stronger protections around price negotiations, product rejections, promotions and payments, and enhanced dispute-resolution pathways, but many grower-suppliers are still concerned about the longstanding power imbalance that is still making their business relations with large grocery retail businesses challenging.

“A level playing field is critical to ensuring the long-term viability of Australia’s vegetable growers and industry, and to protecting the future availability of Australian-grown vegetables for Aussie families.

“AUSVEG welcomes the government progressing this opportunity for growers to upskill and enhance their understanding of their rights and protections under the Code, as well as the opportunity to provide this important training in partnership with NextGen Group, which is a leading provider of Food and Grocery Code and retail negotiation training.”

Looking ahead

This funding support is part of the government’s broader efforts to address market power imbalances in the grocery sector, including making the Food and Grocery Code mandatory with substantial penalties, and agreeing in principle and progressing the ACCC’s Supermarket Inquiry recommendations.

“The Code has come a long way, and we’re grateful to the government for the reforms already delivered. The next review is a real opportunity to build on that progress, and we’ll be actively engaged to make sure the voice of horticulture growers is heard,” Shannon said.

Image credit: iStock.com/Hispanolistic