A West Australian food manufacturer is fed up with the red tape and regulations involved in getting her product on supermarket shelves and will now focus on her wholesale business.
Lyn Bentley is behind the Sticky Fingers gourmet foods brand and according to thewest.com.au, Bentley is walking away from the local retail arm of her business because she finds the red tape of retail too cumbersome.
Bentley said it's easier for her to sell her products to hotel chains overseas rather than adhere to the guidelines set out by Coles and Woolworths, as well as meeting regulations set out by Australia and New Zealand Food Standards, local councils and state and federal governments.
Red tape reduction is one of the policy changes being demanded by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCI) ahead of this weekend's state election, after a 2009 audit found that two-thirds of WA businesses surveyed by the CCI said red tape and regulation prevent them from making the changes necessary to grow the business.