That wouldn’t surprise me in the slightest. The big supermarkets are absolutely ruthless, as anyone who knows a small company who’s tried to get ‘on board’ will know.
Recently I was told some of the producers of the goods positioned in the shelves at the aisle ends are charged handsomely for the privilege.
They’ll squeeze the pips on small suppliers until they squeal, the bargain-type shops that giveaway flyers tell their suppliers that their goods will be in the flyers & tell the same supplier they’re also paying for the privilege (+ also telling them to discount the items).
I know of someone who is in the supply chain of non-food products (I’m deliberately keeping this vague). You think we’ve got it bad in the car game? Everyone wants a slice from that pie, they’re making pennies per item that’s produced in large factories & then the retailers, apart from beating them down every so often for a promotion then will stoop to almost anything to wring one penny per item out of the deal.
Forget the smiley faces on the adverts, all ‘customer service is king’ B/S and the current adverts selflessly opening at additional cost to themselves to feed the nation. It’s the suppliers who take the punches in their game.