Waitrose Foundation
The Waitrose Foundation was established in 2005 to help improve the livelihoods of, and create better opportunities for, the people and communities who grow, pick and pack our fresh produce. Since its inception, the Foundation has invested more than £22 million into more than 2,000 community projects.
Operating across ten countries in Africa and Central America, a percentage of the sale of Foundation products goes back into the country of origin. This contribution is co-funded with our dedicated suppliers.
Throughout 2024, we generated £2.5m through the sale of Foundation products, reached over 76,000 farmers and workers and delivered 296 projects to create better livelihoods. These included the expansion of our microloans programme in East Africa – primarily used to fund school fees – as well as income diversification projects and the ongoing school farm competition in Ghana to inspire youth in agricultural careers.
Customers can support Waitrose Foundation projects by purchasing any Waitrose Foundation product, identified in store or online by the dedicated logo.
Where a product bears the Waitrose Foundation label, 2% of the retail sale price of that product is channelled through our implementing partners to invest in community development projects supporting workers on the farms we source these products from.
In 2024/25 the Foundation investment* that was accrued for the Foundation and given to implementation partners was split as follows:
Waitrose Foundation South Africa: £1,191,703 (52%)
Farm Africa: £722,717 (32%)
Blue Skies Foundation: £87,000 (4%)
Self Help Africa: £107,725 (5%)
Fruktus Foundation: £27,080 (1%)
World Wide Fund for Nature (UK): £157,724 (7%)
* ‘Foundation investment’ is the accrued finances from sales in the 2023/24 financial year for Implementation Partner country and farm level programmes plus additional Global Strategic Fund payments made to the partner that year. For clarity, accrued finances are not sent to the partner until the end of the financial year, whilst global fund payments are paid throughout the year.