This week, shoppers, the farming community and politicians have been commenting on the news that a number of British supermarkets have begun stocking imported beef – from Australian sirloin steaks to New Zealand beef.
These decisions undermine the industry’s credibility with the farming community, contradicting pledges to source 100% British at a time when British farming needs our support more than ever before. As British farmers grapple with rising costs, labour challenges and policy uncertainty, it’s seriously disappointing to see retailers backing away from promises they made to their customers.
We won’t be following suit. You sometimes have to pay more to source higher-quality British products but the long-term cost of undermining our farmers will be much higher.
We will continue to support British farming. We mean it when we make a promise. All our fresh beef, lamb, chicken, eggs and pork is 100% British, raised to the highest welfare standards by Waitrose farmers we’ve built trusted, long-term relationships with, some for more than 40 years.
We genuinely believe UK farming is the best in the world and we know our British farmers work hard to produce food to the highest environmental and welfare standards. Collectively we have to make everyday choices to support them and give them confidence and security, which is why staying the course even when it’s tempting to go low matters more than ever.
The AHDB forecasts UK beef production will fall by around 5% next year as higher costs and labour shortages set in. If supermarkets respond to tightening supply by filling shelves with cheaper Imports, we risk hollowing out a sector of the farming community that sustains our rural economy, our food security and delivers some of the world’s highest welfare and environmental standards.
Customers want homegrown and they want transparency; they want to know the food they buy has been produced by British farmers and reared to the highest standards.
We aren’t just backing our British farmers by giving them our business, but we are also working with them to constantly raise the bar on welfare. We will meet the Better Chicken Commitment well ahead of the 2026 deadline, which means all Waitrose own-brand chicken – primal, pies, sandwiches, soups, everything – will adhere to the higher welfare standards by this August. We have also begun to add clear welfare labels to our fresh chicken to give customers an informed choice.
Last year we committed to support more than 2,000 of our British farmers to move to nature-friendly regenerative farming practices, helping to boost financial resilience of UK farms in the long-term and combat the effects of climate change.
We know how important it is that farmers feel able to plan with confidence, and rely on their future. Retail has to walk the walk and prove it’s a reliable partner, or farmers will quite rightly challenge that we are part of the problem. Waitrose is in this for the long term, it makes sense to us, our farmers and our customers. That’s why we will continue to pay fairly, invest in partnerships and champion British sourcing all year round.
Our commitment to British farming remains today, tomorrow and in the future, and we hope others follow suit.
Jake Pickering is head of agriculture, aquaculture & fisheries at Waitrose
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