The National Association of Health Stores are supporters of the Tescopoly campaign organised by Friends of the Earth. We have made a submission to the investigation into the grocery market by the Competition Commission.

A recent 'Tesco Wholefoods' leaflet states that they do not think that purchasing healthy foods should necessitate a visit to a 'special shop'. Assuming that they mean health food shops and given their very deep pockets this gives us a great deal of concern that health stores will be next in the supermarkets firing line for mandatory extinction, like local butchers and bakers. This would mean an end to health stores which offer a personal service, advice about how to use the products we sell, and exclude smaller suppliers from the retail chain.

This is something which we will resist!

The Tescopoly campaign draws attention to the damage done by very large retailers like Tesco on local communities which may see valued local businesses close, pressure on suppliers to produce food and goods at a very low cost which does not allow for decent wages and doesn't represent a fair reward to those suppliers, and environmental issues like carbon emissions from flying goods from all over the world, people having to travel by car to vast out-of-town shopping centres etc .

Visit the Tescopoly site by clicking here.