Policy Blog

Fair competition in FMCG: reflections from the Oxford Symposium

The British Brands Group was pleased once again to help the Oxford Centre for Competition Law and Policy organise the Oxford Symposium, a forum that has become an important space for thoughtful discussion of competition, consumer protection and fair trading in FMCG.

BBG supports the Symposium because fair and lawful trading is central to our work. The climate for brands is at its best when suppliers, retailers and consumers can participate on fair terms; when innovation is encouraged; and when competition law, consumer protection and sector regulation keep pace with changing commercial practice. The value of the Symposium lies in bringing together suppliers, retailers, regulators, academics and legal practitioners for serious discussion of these issues, under the Chatham House Rule.

A recurring theme this year was that competition policy is being asked to do more, in a more complex environment. Artificial intelligence and digital technology are changing the operation of grocery supply chains, from production and distribution to pricing, marketing and consumer engagement. The discussion highlighted both the opportunities and the risks: better forecasting, more efficient logistics and more relevant offers on the one hand; cyber risk, loss of human oversight, opacity and potential consumer harm on the other.

There was strong emphasis on the need for regulators and businesses to look ahead, rather than retrofit solutions after harms emerge. In fast-moving digital markets, the familiar “move first, fix later” approach is not enough. Better horizon scanning, testing, auditing and multidisciplinary expertise will be needed if regulation is to support innovation while maintaining trust.

The Symposium also explored fairness and access in retail markets. Access is no longer only about physical shelf space, planning restrictions or store locations. Increasingly, it is about digital visibility, marketplace rules, data, search rankings and whether suppliers can reach consumers on fair and non-discriminatory terms. That matters deeply to brands, particularly smaller suppliers seeking to compete against larger businesses with greater resources and stronger trading positions.

Mergers in food and consumer goods were another major focus. Discussion covered the continuing importance of market definition, the growing relevance of non-price factors such as resilience and security of supply, and the challenge of assessing buyer power and portfolio effects. For brands, these issues are not abstract. The way mergers are assessed can shape bargaining dynamics, route to market, innovation incentives and consumer choice.

A further session considered digital and personalised pricing. Dynamic pricing can deliver efficiencies and benefits, but it also raises questions about transparency, fairness and vulnerability. The issue is not simply whether prices change, but whether consumers understand the basis on which they are being charged, whether algorithms facilitate harmful alignment between competitors, and whether vulnerable groups are exposed to unfair outcomes.

Retail media brought many of these themes together. The growth of retailer-controlled advertising networks offers brands new ways to reach consumers, but also creates questions about measurement, attribution, data use, access and market power. First-party data can support more relevant advertising, but consumer trust depends on meaningful consent, transparency and responsible use.

The clear conclusion from the Symposium was that fair competition in FMCG now sits at the intersection of law, technology, data, consumer protection and commercial practice. For BBG, that reinforces the importance of informed, evidence-led dialogue between all parts of the market. Fair and lawful trading is not a narrow legal concern. It is essential to innovation, investment, consumer confidence and a healthy branded goods sector.

A full write-up of the event will be published soon. BBG is grateful to the sponsors of this year’s Symposium, Oxera and CMS Law, for their support in making this important discussion possible.