Tesco Upgrades Profit Forecast and Credits Supply Chain as Significant Contributor

As one of the world’s largest retailers, supermarket giant Tesco has the people in resources in place to meet almost any challenge. However, the COVID-19 crisis tested the company’s ability to whether such situations to breaking point.

However, in October 2021 Tesco increased its operating profit expectations for the current fiscal year to between £2.5bn and £2.6bn and it lays a good deal of the credit for this achievement at the feet of its procurement departments.

“As industry supply chains came under increasing pressure, we were able to leverage our strong supplier relationships and distribution capability to maintain good levels of availability for customers, contributing to our market outperformance,” said CEO Ken Murphy. “With various different challenges currently affecting the industry, the resilience of our supply chain and the depth of our supplier partnerships has once again been shown to be a key asset.”

This only goes to show what an asset procurement can be during tough times. With its hands on the proverbial wallet of big business, procurement has the power to significantly impact the overall performance of a major retailer – even one as big as Tesco. By leveraging existing supplier networks and opening fresh ones, procurement teams can quickly pivot between suppliers and adapt to gaps in supply.