Tesco has granted its Leaf marque certification to all of its nearly 500 UK fruit and veg growers.
The retailer’s growers are now certified to Leaf’s environmental standards, working towards whole-farm improvement in areas including climate resilience, biodiversity, soil health, greenhouse gas emissions and deforestation.
Leaf Marque encourages growers to continuously improve upon key sustainability metrics on their farms through benchmarking progress against practices related to nature, climate, society and economy.
“Reaching this significant milestone was only possible by working in partnership with our suppliers and growers, and it’s really encouraging to see environmental improvements already having an impact on farms across the UK,” said Ashwin Prasad, chief product officer at Tesco.
Tesco has now started the process of certifying the rest of its 8,000-strong global grower base with the aim of completing the transition by 2025.
The Leaf Marque certification is run by global farming organisation Leaf, and requires farms to take a whole-business approach to delivering more sustainable, climate-positive farming.
“We are delighted Tesco is accelerating their ambitious and far-reaching net zero targets through Leaf Marque certification,” said Philip Wynn, chairman and acting CEO at Leaf. “It provides a powerful catalyst for change, empowering growers to adopt more regenerative approaches by building healthier and more productive soils, delivering better air and water quality and enhancing biodiversity.”
One of Tesco’s long-standing onion suppliers, Stourgarden, based in the Stour Valley on the Essex-Suffolk border, has been Leaf Marque certified for the past 10 years. It has seen an increase in wildlife and has continuously been able to improve its soil and water use, it claimed.
“As we continue our rollout of the Leaf Marque across our international supply chain, we’re calling on the whole of the food industry to join us in implementing consistent, improved environmental standards to ensure the food we eat is produced sustainably around the world,” Prasad added.
No comments yet