Waitrose has been awarded the Sustainable Food and Farming Award for its groundbreaking “Farming for Nature” initiative at the Compassion in World Farming (CiWF) 2024 Good Farm Animal Welfare Awards.
This prestigious accolade recognises Waitrose’s commitment to supporting its UK farmers in producing higher welfare meat, dairy, fruit, vegetables and eggs in ways that protect, improve, and restore wildlife and the environment.
The award highlights Waitrose’s work at the Leckford Estate, the only farm owned by a British supermarket. Spanning 2,800 acres in Hampshire, the farm is a model for regenerative agricultural practices. A third of the estate is dedicated to biodiversity, with the remaining land managed using regenerative agriculture principles to enhance the natural environment.
Since 2019, Waitrose has rigorously tested and measured various regenerative farming practices at Leckford, based on six core principles. These practices have delivered environmental benefits, including increased biodiversity, improved soil health, reduced carbon emissions and decreased chemical inputs.
Building on the success at Leckford, Waitrose is expanding its regenerative farming initiative to a variety of satellite farms and has committed to sourcing all UK meat, milk, eggs, fruit, and vegetables from farms using regenerative practices by 2035.
To further promote sustainable farming, Waitrose plans to transform Leckford into a Regenerative Agriculture Centre of Excellence. This centre will provide education, tools and inspiration to other farmers interested in adopting regenerative practices.
“We need a resilient food system that is kinder to nature and recognizes the incredible value of healthy soil,” said Andrew Hoad, Head of Leckford Estate. “We believe a regenerative approach has the potential to achieve this. We are excited to extend our work at Leckford by now working with other farmers in supporting the transition to regenerative agriculture across our UK-based farmers and growers.”
Dr Tracey Jones, Global Director of Food Business, Compassion in World Farming said: “Waitrose has long been a leader in farm animal welfare, and this year we are proud to recognise their leadership in advancing sustainability through regenerative, low-carbon farming at their Leckford Estate. Their holistic approach to tackling broader environmental issues is delivering positive results for increased biodiversity, healthier soils, and reduced carbon emissions. Their commitment to transitioning all UK supply chain farms to regenerative practices by 2035 and transforming Leckford into a Regenerative Agriculture Centre of Excellence is truly commendable.”
This award underscores Waitrose’s leadership in sustainable farming and its dedication to producing high-quality food with minimal environmental impact.
Contact Details:
For more information please contact: jasmine.barker@johnlewis.co.uk
About the CiWF Awards
Compassion in World Farming’s Good Farm Animal Welfare Awards recognise market leading food companies for their policies or commitments that benefit farm animals and the environment. The Sustainable Food and Farming Award specifically recognises those who are taking steps to produce higher welfare meat, dairy and eggs in ways that protect, improve and restore wildlife and the environment
About the John Lewis Partnership
The John Lewis Partnership owns and operates two of Britain’s best-loved retail brands – John Lewis and Waitrose. Started as a radical experiment over a century ago, the Partnership is now the largest employee-owned business in the UK, with over 74,000 employees who are all Partners in the business. The Partnership is purpose-driven, existing to create a fairer and more sustainable future for our Partners, customers, suppliers and communities. Our Purpose not only inspires our principles, drives our decisions and acts as our guide to be a force for good, it steers us to do things differently and better – all in service of creating a happier world for everyone and everything we touch.
Waitrose
Run by over 45,000 passionate Partners, Waitrose has been serving customers for 120 years and offers extraordinary products in our 314 shops and on Waitrose.com. Inspiring food discovery, our expert Partners run almost 800 specialist food service counters in store, where customers can shop a variety of the best quality meat, fresh fish, dry aged beef, sushi, as well as cheese. Our Beer, Wine and Spirits team features the largest number of Masters of Wine of any UK supermarket and we sell nearly 3,000 different wines, beers, ciders, spirits as well as no and low drinks in our shops, on Waitrose.com and Waitrose Cellar. We are committed to selling products which have been responsibly sourced, grown using the very best sustainable farming methods, some of which are grown or trialled on our very own farm, the Leckford Estate. In 2024, Waitrose was granted the Royal Warrant of Appointment to be Grocers and Wine & Spirits Merchant to His Majesty King Charles III.