Always Fair

By increasing transparency of how our products have been grown, sourced and made, and through conducting fair business and customer relationships, we aim to give customers the confidence in the products we sell and the way we sell them. 

PROGRESS HIGHLIGHTS
 

98% of palm oil and palm oil based ingredients and derivatives used in Waitrose own-brand products is Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) physically certified.

92% of Waitrose own-brand fish and shellfish comes from third-party verified responsible sources.

800 workers’ views have been represented from the 23 UK factories enrolled on the John Lewis Better Jobs programme.

PEOPLE & SUPPLY CHAINS

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We have over 2,000 tier one own-brand supplier factories who manufacture or assemble finished products for us and we source own-brand products from over 64 countries.

Our Responsible Sourcing Code of Practice (RSCOP) outlines the Partnership’s high labour standards. All people working throughout our supply chains should be treated with respect, kept safe, be fairly rewarded for their work, and have a platform to voice their opinions. Where there is greatest risk, we run in-country supply chain programmes. Collaboration with experts and other retailers is key, and the nature of our complex and varied supply chains means much of our work requires industry and country level change which we cannot deliver alone or put a single target against. We are committed to driving change by broadening our advocacy work and speaking out for high standards of worker welfare. 

We continue to roll out training to own-brand suppliers to provide guidance on our policies and eliminate the recurrence of issues identified, to drive sustainable change. We work with peers, unions, and civil society groups to develop supplier guidance that standardises our approach to ensure young workers have appropriate protection. We also gather data to address gender discrimination and bias. We continue to promote effective worker-management dialogue through our John Lewis & Partners Better Jobs and Waitrose & Partners Foundation Worker Committee leadership programmes.

For more information on our approach to protecting the rights of supply chain workers please read our 2019/20 Modern Slavery Statement.

FARMING & FISHING

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As Partners, we are passionate about every step of the food supply chain - from field, sea to fork and we take pride in the long-term relationships we have with the farmers and fishermen who catch, rear and grow the food we eat. We must maintain our commitment to lead in, improve and encourage sustainable and ethical farming methods, including on the Waitrose farm estate where we are the only UK supermarket to operate our own farm. We're also committing to source only from net zero carbon farms in the UK by 2035.

Waitrose is one of the top five companies in the world for farm animal welfare standards, as confirmed for the sixth consecutive year by the Global Business Benchmark. We also participate in the Compassion in World Farming Awards scheme, through which we maintain our position as the leading retailer in Europe for farm animal welfare. In addition we are proud to be a signatory of the Better Chicken Commitment, and continue to drive improvements in poultry welfare.

We continue to lead in the responsible use of antibiotics in farming, and provide transparent reporting of that usage, and will remove the use of lead shot from our game supply chain by the end of 2020/21.

We support the Farming Community Network, helping any farmer, whether a Waitrose supplier or not, who finds themselves in need of ‘someone to walk with’ during challenging times.

Find out more about our approach to animal welfare and sustainable farming practices.

Waitrose only sources fish that has been responsibly caught or farmed. This means our suppliers must only source fish from fisheries or farmed aquaculture operations that are responsibly managed. Traceability of all our own-brand fish to either farm or catch area and vessel is key. All British fishing vessels supplying Waitrose own-brand fish are in the process of adopting the Responsible Fishing Scheme which ensures responsibly sourced seafood can be fully traced across the supply chain. 

Waitrose & Partners became the latest UK supermarket to voluntarily disclose a list of all our wild-caught, farmed fish and shellfish sourcing via the Ocean Disclosure Project (OPD). View our 2020 OPD profile containing information on both our wild-caught and farmed seafood sourcing for 2019.   

Find out more about our approach to fishing responsibly along with our targets and performance here. 

RAW MATERIALS & SUSTAINABLE SOURCING

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Customers increasingly expect retailers to use more sustainable raw materials and fair labour practices across products and supply chains.The Partnership is committed to meeting and exceeding those expectations. With such a wide range of products, and complex supply chains, we recognise that properly embedding the use of sustainable materials, alongside best practice will take time, however we’ve committed that by 2025 all key raw materials in our own-brand products will be from sustainable or recycled sources. 

Over the next year we will continue to form strong working relationships with our suppliers and embed sustainable sourcing practices into our raw material supply chains. We will continue to collaborate with the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) as part of a working group to improve Egypt’s Sustainable Cotton Production and in 2020, we will begin a project with the Sustainable Fibre Alliance to improve animal welfare in our cashmere supply chains in China. 

With our fish and livestock suppliers, we will continue to address the use of raw materials, such as fishmeal, fish oil, and palm derived ingredients in animal feed, seeking more sustainable alternatives.  

Find out more about our Timber Standard, our approach to cotton sourcing, our approach to responsible palm oil, our approach to responsible soya sourcing and our cashmere supply chains along with our targets and performance.

FIND OUT MORE

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tackling modern slavery

Read about our approach to tackling modern slavery.

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BETTER JOBS PROGRAMME

Find out how we're promoting better jobs in the John Lewis & Partners supply chain.

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SUPPORTING UK AND OVERSEAS COMMUNITIES

Our Foundations aim to improve the lives of those who grow or produce our products overseas.