For those in the food retail business, an industry-led code of conduct has long been proposed as a way to equalize the sometimes contentious relationship between suppliers and Canada’s major grocery chains.

And while it has largely been focused on things like fees and cost increases that lead to grumblings among brands, the transparency a code would offer has also been seen as something that could help manage soaring inflation Canadians have been seeing in the grocery bills. Which may be why the majority of Canadians support a grocery code of conduct, according to Caddle data.

Caddle surveyed approximately 20,000 consumers in March, revealing that there is mass support nationally for a code, with more than two-thirds saying they would support it, reaching 70% of respondents in Ontario. Nearly the same number of respondents (68%) who support the industry-led code of conduct want the government to intervene to deal with skyrocketing food prices.

According to the survey, 30% of respondents say price gouging and inflation are the reasons for increased food prices. This was followed by 14% who cited COVID.

There was also high interest in recent parliamentary committee hearings featuring the heads of three of Canada’s major grocery chains, Empire’s Michael Medline, Loblaw’s Galen Weston, and Metro’s Eric La Flèche; 35% of Canadians followed the hearings, with 58% noting that they did not find the grocery executives transparent.

A similar code of conduct exists in the U.K. and Australia. It is designed to bring more discipline to the supply chain and to avoid sudden and surprise fee decisions, like the ones that led to last year’s Frito-Law pause at Loblaw stores.

The code was first introduced in January, with a finalized version of the code expected to be presented some time this spring.