Ethical trading
Progress 2007
Finding good suppliers
We only work with suppliers who can demonstrate they are committed to the ETI Base Code and share our values. We have over 5,000 suppliers across the Group, covering our entire range of food and non-food products. As our range grows, so does our supplier base. We evaluate all potential new suppliers to ensure they know the standards set out in the ETI Base Code and have the capability to meet them. Where major problems are identified we will not work with that supplier.
>> Case Study: Jute bag suppliers in India
In 2007, we began work to ensure that suppliers of goods for our business (rather than for sale in our stores) will be subject to the same rigorous standards and processes as our food and non-food suppliers. This means everything from printing paper for our head offices to the bags available for customers at checkout. As part of our efforts to offer alternatives to plastic bags, we identified ten potential suppliers of jute bags in India. After following our ethical trade process, our buying team ruled out eight of them because they were not sufficiently confident that the suppliers would meet our standards. <<