Page 27 Sustainable products


Our customers increasingly want to know where our products come from, how they were produced and what they contain, and that we pay our suppliers a fair price. With a global network of suppliers, some of these questions are a challenge to answer, but we remain committed to trading fairly with our suppliers and bringing our customers the best products at the best prices in a sustainable way.

Sustainable products


Ambition
To sell responsibly sourced quality products.


Targets
> Double Fairtrade food sales in key areas from 2006 levels by year-end 2008
> By 2010, ensure the whole Waitrose supply base worldwide for conventional fruit, vegetables and horticulture is LEAF accredited
> Ensure we recruit and nurture smaller suppliers and strengthen our relationships within the community through promoting local and regional food


4% Increase in Waitrose sales of organic and LEAF-certified products


More information can be found on www.waitrose.com
More information and detailed data can be found on www.johnlewispartnership.co.uk

See the John Lewis CSR report for more information on our sister company


Provenance, traceability and trust
Full traceability of our products and ingredients is critical to our success and to consumer confidence, so our rigorous ethical sourcing policies, supported by inspections and farm assurance schemes, are used to ensure the highest standards of production, animal welfare and trading throughout our supply chain. We work hard to inform our customers about sourcing issues too, through Partner training, accessible information in-store and online, and on own-brand labelling, which contains nutritional information, country of origin and certifications to relevant, independently verified ethical standards such as Linking Environment and Farming (LEAF) and the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC).


Making our Marque
We are the only UK retailer to insist all our British fruit and vegetable growers adopt the LEAF certification standard. LEAF, an independent charitable organisation, helps farmers to improve standards of environmental stewardship through reduced pesticide use, protecting threatened species, conserving water and energy, and preventing soil erosion. The LEAF Marque has appeared on all our UK produce for two years, and all our major British flower suppliers have been LEAF accredited since May 2008.We are currently working with overseas growers so that all our fruit, vegetables and horticulture will be LEAF-Marqued by 2010. Our own estate in Leckford, Hampshire, holds the LEAF Marque and is one of the LEAF farms that takes part in Open Farm Sunday, when the public gets to see exactly how the food they buy is produced.


Organics
We have been selling organic products, grown under sustainable production methods, for over 20 years, and Waitrose currently accounts for 17% of the UK organic market through sales of more than 1,650 products, ranging from pet food to preserves and tea to toiletries. We have twice been voted 'Organic Supermarket of the Year' by the Soil Association.