Waitrose & Partners

Our Mission

Waitrose has a critical role to play in transforming the food system and creating more sustainable food that is good for people and nature.

Waitrose is on a mission to boost the long-term financial resilience of farms in the UK and to combat climate change through its Farming for Nature Programme.

About Farming for Nature:

Farming for Nature aims to support more than 2,000 Waitrose British farmers to move to nature-friendly farming practices, helping to boost the financial resilience of farms in the long term, combat biodiversity loss and tackle the effects of climate change.

Waitrose aims to source all our own-brand UK meat, milk, eggs, fruit, vegetables and horticulture from farms that use regenerative practices by 2035.

The Farming for Nature Programme builds on our commitment to reach net zero across our UK farms by 2035 (and our entire supply chain by 2050). We have announced the recipients of a new £500k fund aimed at helping British farmers transition to low-carbon farming methods.

Farming For

Nature

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How we’re achieving our ambition

We believe that farming is not just about growing food. We believe we are also investing in a healthier planet for generations to come. Our focus is on what’s commonly referred to as regenerative agriculture. This means actions like minimising chemical or mechanical soil disturbance to avoid releasing carbon into the atmosphere and destroying soil structure; maximising plant and crop diversity, integrating livestock and keeping soil covered with living roots all year round. In principle put more back in than you take out by farming to improve the environment.

How we're supporting British farmers

Key elements of the Farming for Nature Programme include:

Key partners:

LEAF

Initially working with 10 farms alongside our own farm at the Leckford Estate in Hampshire. Leckford is set to become a permanent Centre for Excellence, with practical tools, workshops, online resources and mentoring for farmers to accelerate learning and knowledge sharing.

The University of Reading

Known for its cutting-edge agricultural research. Together we have implemented a Knowledge Transfer Programme, backed by a grant from UK Research and Innovation. Its aim is to help bridge the gap between best practice and current approaches to farming by providing farmers with new resources.

The Soil Association Exchange

This collaboration will help our farmers by measuring their environmental impact and guiding them to transition to more sustainable practices and providing expert advice to enhance sustainability and profitability.

LandApp

This partnership will provide more than 2,000 Waitrose farmers with free access to advanced mapping tools and expert advice, helping them to create bespoke land management plans. This will support the completion of a ‘state of nature’ survey of all our own-brand UK farms, so that farmers and growers can help biodiversity to thrive.

HOW YOU CAN HELP

Support British farmers today

The farming community in the UK are custodians of beautiful and diverse agricultural land and the animal life it sustains. But we are all part of this ecosystem. From the food we eat to the produce used day-to-day, these agricultural outputs are critical to our way of life. Our behaviours and purchasing habits can have a huge impact on the ability of farmers to farm regeneratively.

The Leckford Estate is a unique asset owned by Waitrose, a 2,800-acre working farm and country estate in Hampshire and our ambition is to continue practising regenerative farming techniques there. Every Leckford product you buy supports regenerative agriculture, helping wildlife to thrive and reducing the effects of climate change.