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Representatives of small and medium-sized businesses have hit out over the Competition Commissions findings that UK supermarkets are not killing off competition from smaller retailers.
The preliminary report on the investigation into the UKs £128 billion grocery industry – the third inquiry in seven years – also said that supermarket chains do not limit competition or consumer choice.
Competition Commission chairman Peter Freeman acknowledged life was not easy for smaller retailers and new business start-ups, but said he could find no evidence of unfair distortions in competition between large grocery retailers and small stores.
Critics however, cite the adverse impact big business has on smaller companies and the potential hindrance it is to new company formation.
Small retailers and suppliers are squeezed out of the market because of practices such as selling items below the cost of production and bullying suppliers, critics argue.
Matthew Knowles, spokesman for the Federation of Small Businesses, accused the commission of missing the point entirely, saying that competition between the UKs four biggest supermarkets is not the same as "free and fair competition across the whole grocery sector".
"Once again the shopping public as well as small retailers and suppliers have been let down by the Competition Commission, who seem unable to see past the huge lobbying resources of the Big Four supermarkets," Mr Knowles said.
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