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Commitments

Waitrose:

To supply the best-quality produce in season, and when sourcing worldwide fruits, vegetables and flowers aim to minimise environmental impact by working to achieve LEAF.

Continue to only source fish from sustainable wild sources and responsibly farmed aquaculture.

Working with our livestock producers, maintain industry-leading standards on animal welfare and the environment.

Work with suppliers to improve our offer on healthier everyday products.

Continue to develop our Nutrition Advice Service to meet the demand for nutrition and health information.

Remove all artificial colours from own-brand products by the end of April 2009 (target met).


Taking stock:

Our 1,900 livestock producers all became members of the Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group (FWAG) in 2008. FWAFWA G promotes sustainable production methods focusing on resource, energy and waste management. We have also set up over 30 livestock producer groups which give producers an assured market, clear direction and a stable base on which to build their businesses and invest in the future.


2,150+

Local and regional product lines available in Waitrose, 68% of which are delivered directly to our shops (see page 8)


Waitrose products

Sustainable agriculture standards

The traceability and provenance of our products and ingredients is a critical part of the trust and confidence our customers have in us, and is crucial to our ongoing business success. As farmers ourselves, we understand the importance – and the challenges – of maintaining high standards in agricultural production and environmental management. We have rigorous sourcing policies in place, and adhere to a growing number of certification, verification and farm assurance schemes throughout our supply chain.

For example, Waitrose is the only UK retailer to have all its British fruit, vegetable and major flower growers meeting the LEAF (Linking Environment and Farming) Marque certification standard of environmental stewardship. We are working to extend this standard globally for 2010 and through a grant from the Department for International Development’s Food Retail Industry Challenge Fund, Waitrose and its project partners will be able to support farmers in sub-Saharan Africa, assisting them in developing sustainable production techniques and extending the reach of the LEAF Marque.

We have been selling organic products, grown under sustainable production methods, for over 20 years. In 2008/09, our organic sales remained relatively steady despite the recession and our UK market share grew to 18.2%. Waitrose’s 3,000 organic product lines, including 600 own-brand products, include health and beauty products, wine, ice cream, fillet steak and chocolate.

Animal welfare

For us, animal welfare is ‘business as usual’. We take the issue extremely seriously, and work to ensure all the livestock throughout our supply chain is treated with respect and care. Many of our standards go beyond legal requirements and have been recognised by organisations such as the RSPCA and Compassion in World Farming. In the three years since they were established, Waitrose has twice won a Good Egg award from Compassion in World Farming, most recently for converting to only free-range eggs in all own-brand products.

Because we carefully select our processing partners to minimise the transport times from suppliers and any potential adverse welfare implications, our ‘time to slaughter’ journey times fall well within current EU legislative requirements. For example, 70% of the lamb we source in Wales is produced within 40 miles of the processor in Powys. Our business focuses on livestock supplied from within the UK, but if we had to source product from outside the country, we would never consider importing live animals for processing.


£273.5 million

Value of Waitrose organic sales