Organisations cannot tackle the complex challenges of climate change, biodiversity loss and social injustice in isolation. Addressing these challenges will require collaboration across industry, NGOs, Government and beyond to maintain focus, facilitate conversations and drive change on pivotal issues.
Engaging with NGOs and industry partners and colleagues enables us to share insights, collaborate on solutions to shared challenges and drive position change across the food system, benefitting our customers, communities, suppliers and planet.
NGOs play a key role in facilitating collaboration by convening industry on a pre-competitive basis to drive pace and change on pivotal issues across the spectrum within our industry.
Key sustainability topics that matter to NGOs and Industry
- Openness and transparency
- Collaboration with NGOs and other members of the industry
- Business responsibility
- Insight from business leaders
- Dedication of time and resources to address key challenges and issues
How we engage on sustainability
- By engaging with NGOs and industry, we’re able to reflect on progress made and identify steps to make further progress in addressing the challenges our industry faces.
- Ongoing development of partnerships with NGOs
- Regular industry meetings and collaboration, supported by NGOs
- Participation in key benchmarks and disclosures
- Driving progress through our priority industry collaboration groups (including Mondra, the Institute of Grocery Distribution (IGD) and WRAP)
Examples of our engagement on sustainability in FY2025/26
- We worked with NGOs to unlock sector challenges on data and methodology
- Our Chief Executive, Simon Roberts, through his role on UK Food Strategy Advisory Board, played an active part in advising the government on the development of the Good Food Cycle
Challenges and partnerships
Standardised definitions and approaches to measuring and monitoring across both climate and nature to more effectively drive progress, comparison and reporting, including for:
- Scope 3 emissions
- Biodiversity baselining, sustainable water management and soil health
What are we doing
We are collaborating through industry groups to agree best practice definitions and reporting and simplify data collection for our suppliers and enable more granular reporting.
We are partnering to drive nature positive agriculture and support farmers measure biodiversity improvements, continuing to work on traceability to more robustly assess nature-related issues across our supply chain.
Partnerships to meet our challenges
WRAP, IGD, Secaro
We engaged with WRAP and IGD following the Net Zero Transition Report to more deeply
understand projected reduction opportunities, informing our own transition planning. We also
engaged with industry on greenhouse gas data and methodology for Scope 3 emissions.
Foodsteps
We are working with Foodsteps to support our Scope 3 reporting and model significantly more
specific emission factors at the product and ingredient level for our own brand products, with
improved level of granularity enabling insights and action towards our SBTi targets.
Land App
Supporting UK farmers to map their land including for land use, habitat cover, soil health and
water risk, helping us to identify and mitigate risks.
Technology development, including commercially viable alternative fuel vehicles to support our decarbonisation plan.
What are we doing
We conduct feasibility studies and trials to explore new technologies and solutions and ensure operational suitability.
Partnerships to meet our challenges
ZEHID
We secured government funding as part of collaboration with the Zero Emissions HGV and
Infrastructure Demonstration (ZEHID) to install charging infrastructure at five of our depots.
This will help us to trial electric HGVs in our operations and measure the impact of these EVs in
our operations.
Understanding how to deliver the required transformation in the UK food system.
What are we doing
We are working alongside industry to understand and address the challenges facing our sector as we work to progress our net zero ambitions for the food system.
Partnerships to meet our challenges
IGD
The Food Systems Change Leader Forum, established in April 2024 and convened by IGD with
WRAP is focusing on key levers for system change and workstreams that will support progress to
net zero.
What are we doing
We are working alongside policymakers, the food industry and experts to build towards a UK food system that delivers economic growth, improves health outcomes, protects our natural environment, and delivers lasting social good.
Partnerships to meet our challenges
Food Strategy Advisory Board
Our Chief Executive Simon Roberts, through his role on the Government’s Food Strategy Advisory Board, played an active part in advising the government on the development of the Good Food Cycle and the NHS 10-Year Health Plan. This included a key policy ask to mandate healthy sales disclosures for large food businesses.
Policy intervention and investment to create the infrastructure for change, enable a level playing field, support customer behaviour change and transition to net zero.
What are we doing
We have outlined our key priorities to Government and regularly provide input and insight through industry groups and sector consultation.
Partnerships to meet our challenges
BRC, IGD, Government
We continue to promote the value of the retail sector across the UK, fostering sector alignment on key sustainability challenges and responding to Government consultations to share sector insights and outline the impact on businesses and the wider industry.
Retail Soy Group (UK)
We are engaging across the sector with the UK Government to ensure upcoming legislation aligns with the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) and more widely support the introduction of the EUDR to help meet our deforestation and conversion free ambitions.
Seasonal Worker Scheme Taskforce
We championed improvements for UK seasonal workers through our membership of the Seasonal Workers Scheme Taskforce and as part of their Governance Committee. We participate in workstreams that aim to improve access to grievance mechanisms, due diligence and good practice during recruitment and on-farm and improve worker finances.
We collaborate and work with many other notable partnerships across a wide range of areas to support knowledge sharing and industry wide action to drive systemic change at scale.
Fairtrade
Future Food Movement
Comic Relief
Ethical Trade Initiative
University of Nottingham Rights Lab
Consumer Goods Forum
Stronger Together