Page 20


Business review

Resources and relationships (continued)


(Photo captioned: Farm assurance schemes ensure our suppliers have the highest standards of production and animal welfare)

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) (continued)

(...Continue from page 19) commitments and targets into business plans, and allowed the Partnership to develop a clearer set of priorities in four core CSR areas: customers, products and suppliers; people (see Partner section above); communities and environment. More detailed information on the Partnership’s CSR policies and programmes is set out below and in our CSR reports which can be found on the Partnership website, www.johnlewispartnership.co.uk.

Customers, products and suppliers

The Partnership is committed to dealing fairly with its suppliers, selling responsibly sourced, quality products and aims to attract, retain and deepen relationships with loyal customers.

Provenance, traceability and trust

Full traceability of our products and ingredients is critical to our success and to consumer confidence, so our rigorous sourcing policies supported by inspections and farm assurance schemes are used to ensure the highest standards of production, animal welfare and trading throughout our supply chain. In John Lewis and Waitrose, dedicated technical departments, in conjunction with our buying teams, are responsible for ensuring that every product sold is safe to use and fit for purpose, and that all our own-brand and exclusive products comply with all relevant consumer legislation and safety standards. We also work hard to inform our customers about sourcing issues.

Waitrose works to ensure that all livestock throughout our supply chain are treated with respect and care. The Partnership works with and supports its suppliers, in Britain and overseas, to maintain best practice standards of agricultural production and environmental management and to source products sustainably. Our desire to be part of the solution to the environmental problems caused by the growth in palm oil use, has seen Waitrose set an ambitious target to ensure that 100% of its own brand products only contain Certified Sustainable Palm Oil by 2012. Additionally, during 2010 we will be working with our suppliers to better understand the embedded water and carbon in our own-brand products in order to drive long-term reductions.

Waitrose is also increasing the use of the LEAF (Linking Environment and Farming) Marque certification standard in its supply base, helping farmers to improve standards of environmental stewardship through the use of crop rotations for good soil management, protecting and enhancing the countryside for wildlife and biodiversity, and minimising pesticide usage. Waitrose is working to extend this standard globally and through a grant from the Department for International Development’s Food Retail Industry Challenge Fund, alongside its project partners, will be able to support farmers in sub-Saharan Africa, assisting them in developing sustainable production techniques. The Partnership’s Leckford Estate in Hampshire is a LEAF demonstration farm, hosting visits and supporting Open Farm Sunday, which Waitrose sponsors, when the public gets to see exactly how the food they buy is produced.

John Lewis is also committed to ensuring the integrity of its products. John Lewis’s annual ‘Make a difference’ promotion showcases the range of responsible and desirable products it sells. Always seeking to stock items with the lowest energy consumption – all of our own-brand domestic large electrical appliances are A or A+ rated for energy efficiency – and we have set a target to ensure 95% of domestic large electrical appliances sold continue to be A rated or above. John Lewis also sells water-efficient appliances such as its own-brand dishwasher and ‘A+’ rated washing machine with a flow sensor to calculate the optimum amount of water required for the load. John Lewis has worked for many years to ensure that the timber used in its products is sourced with the least possible damage to the environment. It supports and encourages suppliers to work towards forestry certification. Its target is to ensure all garden furniture is independently certified to the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) standard for the 2010 season. In 2009 targets were set for 30% of indoor furniture ranges to be FSC certified by 2012, with a further 20% either actively progressing towards FSC certification or certified by other schemes. It also set a new target for 100% of ownbrand paper products to be manufactured from recycled or FSC (or equivalent) sources by 2012.

(Photo captioned: All of John Lewis's own-brand domestic large electrical appliances are A or A+ rated for energy efficiency)