Our suppliers

Progress 2007 cont...

Animal welfare

We aspire to high standards of animal welfare wherever we operate and we support research in this area. In the UK we have livestock codes of practice that cover all aspects of animal husbandry, animal welfare requirements, environmental impacts and food safety. All meat, poultry, eggs and farmed fish suppliers must be members of an independently audited and certified farm assurance scheme. Overseas suppliers to UK stores must be similarly certified with an equivalent scheme.

We employ a team of agricultural specialists to ensure that farmed animals are reared humanely. Independent auditors carry out unannounced inspections on the farms and abattoirs that supply us to ensure that our standards are being met. For example, in 2007 these specialists conducted 833 audits. If these audits raise concerns we inform the supplier and work with them to ensure appropriate action is taken within 14 days. If repeat concerns about a particular supplier are raised over two consecutive audits we will consider ceasing to work with that supplier at least until we have evidence that the concerns have been dealt with.

We do not support testing on animals for cosmetic or household purposes and do not carry out or commission such tests on our own-brand products or the ingredients in them. Tesco contributes £10,000 a year to the Fund for the Replacement of Animals in Medical Experimentation (FRAME), which seeks to end animal testing.

Many UK customers are concerned about intensively reared chickens. Our approach is to provide customers with choice and the information necessary to make an informed decision. We aim to increase sales of chickens raised with higher welfare standards by raising awareness, and pricing these products competitively. We do not want to penalise customers on a tight budget by removing lower-cost products on which many rely.

KPI	2007/8
Nature's Choice	To register all organic growers in countries prioritised for the first year of the three-year programme as part of our target to ensure all organic growers are registered to Nature's Choice by March 2010.
	To audit all organic suppliers in countries prioritised for the first year of the three-year programme as part of our target to ensure 100% of organic suppliers comply with Nature's Choice by March 2010.
Local sourcing	To grow sales of local products by 30% by March 2008.
Supplier relations	To monitor supplier relations through our Supplier Viewpoint Survey. Over 90% of our suppliers view us as being trustworthy, reliable, consistent, clear, helpful and fair.
Below target Close to target On target Above target	View the complete KPI table