Customer information notices

Dear Waitrose Customer

As meat continues to be in the news, I thought you would appreciate knowing that we have now completed all testing on our products containing minced beef, including burgers and ready meals. No horsemeat has been found in any of these tests and our results have now been submitted to the Food Standards Agency.

We expected our test results to be clear but, given the seriousness of what has been revealed over the past few weeks, I wanted to confirm to you our reassurance on the provenance of Waitrose meat.

Over the past few days there has been much talk about the length of meat supply chains. By this we mean the number of steps in the chain between the farmer who supplies the livestock for meat and the product you buy.

We’ve always prided ourselves in working more closely with our farmers than any other supermarket. We know the farmers who supply us and we never buy meat on the open market - we always know where our food comes from. All the fresh meat in our own-label products is British - that’s all our pork, chicken and beef - the only exceptions are the New Zealand lamb and venison which we use to fill the gap between British seasons and our authentic continental meat ranges.

The close relationships and trust we have with our farmers is the result of more than a decade’s work and, as farmers ourselves, is something on which we place the highest value.

As I told you in my last letter, the welfare of animals and the quality of our fresh and frozen meat is of the highest priority. That’s why we are especially pleased about the new partnership with our dedicated beef supplier that, in addition to supplying our fresh beef, will see them supplying a range of frozen Waitrose beef products, shortening even further the distance between farm gate and supermarket shelf.

I hope this is helpful. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact us at 0800 188884.

Yours sincerely

Mark Price