Newspread condemned for fuel surcharge

The Federation of Independent Retailers (the Fed) has today (Monday, March 23) strongly condemned the decision by Irish news wholesaler Newspread to add an additional 4.5 per cent fuel surcharge to its existing carriage charge in response to cost pressures caused by current events in the Middle East.

The Fed is now demanding an urgent meeting with senior management at Newspread to share members’ concerns about these additional costs at a time when they can ill afford them as well as the lack of consultation.

National President Hetal Patel said: “This surcharge is unwelcome and has been announced without any consultation with the Fed or our members. At our meeting with Newspread we will be expressing our disappointment. Newspread has rushed through these additional charges without giving their retail customers fair notice. Six weeks’ notice of any changes to carriage charge templates is customary.”

National vice president Hemanshu Patel added: “While clearly there has been a recent increase in fuel prices, data from the RAC Foundation shows that pump prices were significantly higher during 2022-2023 than they are currently and despite reducing from those peaks no corresponding reduction was ever reflected in carriage charges.

“We are simply asking for a consistent approach to be taken, preferably alongside constructive discussions with colleagues across the supply chain, as opposed to the kind of unilateral decision-making on display here.

“I would question why a surcharge appears to have been applied without a mechanism to reduce the overall carriage charge at times of lower-than-expected fuel prices and how the figure of 4.5 per cent has been calculated, including if it has been decided in the context of longer-term price trends rather than short term market volatility.”

Craig Etchells, national deputy vice president and chair of the Fed’s news operations committee continued: “As well as speaking with Newspread, we will be discussing our concerns with publishers, reminding them of the role they are obliged to play in ensuring that carriage charges remain both transparent and fair.  This is particularly important in a marketplace that lacks competition for sales and choice of wholesaler.

“Unlike other products, news continues to have printed cover prices limiting retailer options to pass on costs to customers. Additional surcharges such as this do little to motivate retailers to remain in or to look to stock the category in store.”