People In Supply Chains

Our ambition is to protect the rights and champion the voices of workers in our supply chains

Performance highlights

206,337

Workers’ livelihoods improved by target date of 2025.

Supporting workers

206,337 workers’ livelihoods improved by target date of 2025.

£1m

Committed to climate resilience projects by the Waitrose Foundation since 2022.

Waitrose Foundation milestone

£1m committed to climate resilience projects by the Waitrose Foundation since 2022.

9

Trainers trained on child labour prevention and remediation best practice.

Egyptian cotton

9 trainers trained on child labour prevention and remediation best practice.

80

Partners and suppliers trained on how to identify homeworking and support decent working practices.

Homeworking conditions

80 Partners and suppliers trained on how to identify homeworking and support decent working practices.

Our approach to supply chains

We want to enable everyone in our supply chains to realise their fundamental human rights. We believe that by championing the voices of workers and building strong relationships across our supply chains, we can create lasting value for both the Partnership and the people we work with, in support of our business Purpose.

Fundamentals

Enable everyone in our supply chains to realise their fundamental human rights

Resilience

Invest £1 million on water resilience and sanitation programmes

Livelihoods

Positively impact the livelihoods of workers and communities in our supply chains

Progress

We’re strengthening human rights across our supply chains by supporting homeworkers, increasing factory visibility, and deepening due diligence in key sectors like tea and cotton. Through targeted programmes and partnerships, we’re working to improve livelihoods and promote transparency at every level.

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Homeworker guidelines

In 2025, we launched our new global implementation guidelines for homeworkers. The accompanying policy improvements and training for Partners and suppliers will assist the Partnership in identifying and supporting decent working conditions for homeworkers. It will also promote long-term social improvements and prosperity across our supply chain and its communities.

Enhanced due diligence

We’ve been making progress in the Egyptian cotton and Korean tuna sectors following the assessments we commissioned into both during 2023/4. For cotton, we’ve moved forward with our action plan and, following some delays, the field work for the tuna sector has now been completed.

Responsible recruitment

We continue to be an active member of the Seasonal Workers Scheme Taskforce, which was assembled to improve recruitment and working conditions. This year, the Taskforce has deployed an app to help inform workers about their rights prior to departure, while in the UK it has supported nine grower roadshows which were attended by 426 people.

Following the success of the worker welfare films we helped produce in 2023, this year, we sponsored the development of a module in the Just Good Work app that helps migrant fishers coming to the UK understand their rights and avoid being defrauded.

Challenges

We’re staying alert to global challenges like political instability and climate disruption, working closely with suppliers to protect workers’ rights. In regions like Bangladesh, we continue to offer support and follow responsible sourcing guidance to navigate change collaboratively.

Explore Challenges

We’re vigilant about the complex and interconnected challenges that can undermine human rights in our supply chains. Ongoing global political instability and the accelerating effects of climate change disrupt supply chains and intensify issues related to labour migration, poverty and fragile social structures. Labour migration also attracts persistent, high recruitment fees, with vulnerable workers at a higher risk of exploitation.

We recognise the critical nature of water security as a fundamental human right essential to the livelihoods of workers and their communities. It’s important for us to have processes in place that ensure we’re prepared to deal with these and other challenges as they arise. We must keep monitoring a range of risks and work closely with suppliers to understand the impact of our business decisions and where workers’ rights may be at risk.

Looking forward

We’re continuing to strengthen protections for workers across our supply chains, from farming communities to fishing vessels. Through partnerships, research and initiatives, we’re tackling issues like recruitment fees, discrimination and worker education, while celebrating 20 years of impact through the Waitrose Foundation.

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The Waitrose Foundation is planning to expand into new areas, establishing partnerships that will strengthen our commitments and deliver greater impact in our fresh produce supply base.

In 2026, we’ll continue to build on our work raising awareness among migrant fishers about their rights, both pre-departure and once they reach the UK, as well as undertaking similar work in the agricultural sector.

We also recognise the importance of access to effective grievance mechanisms and are working across several areas to support their operation. This includes supporting John Lewis suppliers in India and China through our Better Jobs projects.

As a large business, we need to remain vigilant of the changing regulatory landscape. That’s why a key focus for 2026 will be ensuring that we and our suppliers are ready for incoming EU legislation, such as the EU Forced Labour Regulation.

Enabling hand-woven rug workers’ rights

Case Study

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In 2018, we partnered with the Association for Stimulating Know-how (ASK India) to conduct supply chain mapping and factory risk assessments for 10 hand-woven rug suppliers in India. Since then, we have worked to empower factory workers so that they have a voice on important issues.

When our partnership began, ASK India visited 17 tier 1 factories, as well as several tier 2 units. During their assessments, they identified risks that included a lack of effective worker committees and gaps in health and safety practices.

Paused in 2020/21 due to the pandemic, the programme recommenced in 2022 with a second round of factory risk assessments. With the findings largely repeated, ASK India worked with the factories to develop site-level capacity-building plans. The plans included developing worker committees by involving workers and management in games and mock meetings to improve collective understanding, as well as strengthening grievance systems by relaunching grievance policies and upskilling worker representatives so that they were able to record and mediate grievances.

These sessions took place at the start of 2024 and were attended by 101 employees across seven participating factories, with management agreeing to co-create an action plan with ASK India to implement their learnings.

Eight months later, our follow-up evaluation found that five of the factories had significantly enhanced the roles of the new committees and four had already implemented over 50% of their action plan.

These activities are playing a positive part in improving the dialogue between workers and managers and helping to create mechanisms so that workers have more of a voice on issues that are important to them.

This process has reinforced the message that, in the face of many competing priorities for factory management teams, important topics such as these can be implemented effectively if engagement is consistent. We’ll keep working to ensure these improvements are maintained and action plans get completed as we support the factories to continue their conversations with tier 2 suppliers.

“Earlier I had limited knowledge on labour law, about the Works Committee, Grievance and Internal Complaint Committee…after having attended the training, my learning has improved. The training was interactive and informative. It was a very good session.” - Factory management member

“The session was really empowering for me. I will be able to encourage workers to share their grievances and our Committee shall resolve it effectively.” - Factory worker member

Celebrating Waitrose Foundation’s 20 years

Case Study

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In 2025, the Waitrose Foundation proudly celebrated 20 years of improving livelihoods, having invested £24.6 million in creating stronger communities and sustainable supply chains for Waitrose and its supply partners.

The Foundation first started making a difference in South Africa two full decades ago, and its impact has since spread to 10 countries around the world, delivering over 2,500 projects.

In South Africa itself, most current Foundation projects focus on healthcare and education, where they consistently generate strong outcomes. Healthcare interventions, such as mobile clinics and sports programmes have reduced absenteeism on farms, improved productivity and helped workers save R.700 per month in healthcare costs – equivalent to 10% of an average monthly income. Education programmes, such as the 80 early childhood facilities the Foundation helped establish, reach more than 9,000 children per year, enhancing learning outcomes, reducing caregiving burdens and improving women's access to employment.

Another strand of the Foundation’s valuable work covers youth development and psychosocial resilience. These programmes have had transformative outcomes, supporting young people to transition to employment and strengthening community resilience through trauma support.

One beneficiary of this focus on young people is Reggie Benjamin. Reggie grew up on a Waitrose Foundation farm, benefitting from the Foundation-funded creche, after-school centre and youth employability skills and work experience programme. Previously employed to deliver a sailing-based therapeutic and psychosocial programme for children from disadvantaged backgrounds, he is now employed as a mentor for the next cohort of Waitrose Foundation youth programme participants.

The Foundation celebrated its 20 years of achievements at a conference in South Africa, where it launched the Chair’s Celebration Fund. The new fund will support a special project every five years, beginning with the refurbishment and enhancement of facilities at Simotwet Special School in Kenya.

It also announced £1 million of future investment in water security and water, sanitation and hygiene programmes through the Global Strategic Fund. This investment is vital for the long-term sustainability of agricultural supply chains, on which many farmers and workers rely for their income. As the effects of climate change take hold, effective water management becomes ever more critical for ensuring stable crop yields, job security and wellbeing for agricultural workers.

“The impact of the Waitrose Foundation extends far beyond individual success stories. It has touched the lives of many families and communities. The Foundation’s commitment to providing access to education, resources and mentorship has been a beacon of hope, particularly for those who might have been left behind.” Siyabonga Mathebula, Waitrose Foundation Bursary Alumnus.