The Australian Food and Grocery Council’s (AFGC) chief executive, Tanya Barden, has suddenly departed from the nation’s peak body representing supermarket suppliers.
“It was a mutual separation agreement with the board and I have no further comment,” Barden told The Australian, which first reported the story.
The immediate and unexplained departure has left the peak body without a leader as the ACCC narrows its focus on supermarkets’ treatment of grocery suppliers.
Despite the “mutual separation”, it is speculated that Barden and members of the board, which is made up of large food and grocery manufacturers, have been at odds for some time.
The AFGC under Barden’s leadership championed grocery suppliers and their treatment amidst the cost-of-living crisis – making submissions to the ACCC to raise concerns over cost pressures on the food industry.
It is still unknown who will step into Bardon’s previous role at the AFGC to stand up to Australia’s biggest supermarkets, Coles and Woolworths, to advocate for the nation’s food and grocery suppliers.
