Tesco, WWF to map environmental impact of food production

Measure will track key environmental impacts of a sample of regularly purchased products, and is first step to halving the environmental impact of food

Tesco and WWF Partnership calls on food industry to provide consumers and stakeholders with consistent sustainability data to understand the true environmental impact of food

The environmental impact of some of the UK’s most popular foods will be measured and, for the first time, tracked following the launch of the Tesco and WWF Sustainable Basket Metric.

The Metric will track the environmental impact of a sample of some of the most regularly purchased foods against key sustainability criteria, including climate change, deforestation and food and packaging waste. Tesco and WWF will run a first full assessment against the metric in early 2020 and publish the results. They will also then be able to confirm a date by which they believe the target of halving the impact of the average UK shopping basket can be reached, with 2030 a potential ambition.

The two organisations, which launched a partnership last year, are working together on a number of sustainability projects which will contribute to their aim, including soil health and water usage programmes in UK agriculture, and working towards the production of zero-deforestation commodities such as soy in Tesco’s supply chains.

The products included in the basket have been selected due to their popularity with customers and the different impacts each product has on the environment. The basket includes household staples such as bread, milk, meat, fish, and fruit and vegetables.

Tesco Group CEO, Dave Lewis said, “At Tesco we want to provide customers with good quality, affordable food that is produced in a sustainable way. To help us achieve this we’ve partnered with WWF with the goal of halving the environmental impact of the average UK shopping basket. Throughout our partnership, we’ll be carrying out industry-leading work to make food production more sustainable, including sourcing commodities like soy and palm oil from verified zero-deforestation areas, and improving soil health and water usage on farms in the UK. Working together we can help to ensure the natural environment is protected for future generations.”

WWF UK CEO, Tanya Steele said, “Food production is at the core of many of the environmental crises facing our planet – it’s the leading cause of tropical deforestation and is responsible for 24 per cent of the world’s greenhouse gases. The launch of the Sustainable Basket Metric will enable Tesco to fully understand the end-to-end sustainability impact of some of the most popular foods, and we’re proud to have worked with them to create it. We want other retailers to take a similar approach and come together to ensure a more sustainable approach to food production.”

Tesco has committed to updating on its progress towards its aim of a 50% reduction in the environmental impact of the average UK shopping basket in its annual Little Helps Plan report.