Tesco pledges to help people eat more healthily and support British farmers

25 Oct 2017 --- British retailer Tesco has underlined its commitment to increasing the amount of vegetables in people’s diets and backing British agriculture by supporting The Food Foundation’s Peas Please pledge and signing up to the National Farmers’ Union Fruit & Veg Pledge. According to the retailer, the Fruit & Veg pledge is designed to nurture long-lasting relationships between retailers and growers and highlight the importance of treating suppliers fairly, reducing food waste and buying more seasonal British fruit and vegetables.

Tesco has also committed to supporting The Food Foundation’s Peas Please initiative, focused on making it easier for more people to eat more vegetables. As part of this, Tesco has pledged to prioritize increasing the amount of vegetables when developing recipes and introducing new products, and ensure more vegetable options are included in evening meal deals. In addition, the retailer will continue to work with its supplier partners to develop new products to increase overall consumption of vegetables as it works to help customers make healthier food choices.

“We’re proud to celebrate our partnerships with British farmers and growers by signing the NFU’s Fruit & Veg Pledge, which highlights both our commitment to British agriculture and healthy products. British farmers and growers produce fantastic quality food, and we believe if we invest in them for the long term, our customers will enjoy better quality, affordable food today and tomorrow,” says Tesco’s Chief Product Officer Jason Tarry.

“Signing The Food Foundation’s Peas Please pledge also underlines our commitment to help our customers make healthier choices by making it easier to eat more vegetables, which in turn helps support our British farmers and growers too,” Tarry notes.

“By offering this vital certainty and commitment, Tesco’s suppliers of fruit and veg will be in a stronger position to invest in their business, plan for the future, boost productivity and compete in a global marketplace. By signing up to the pledge, Tesco is telling suppliers it has started the journey of delivering ever higher standards of business integrity, which we are very proud of,” NFU President Meurig Raymond says.

Tesco says the announcements reflect significant work undertaken to improve relationships with British farmers and growers, including:

• Creating long-term partnerships to help British farmers grow their businesses – including supporting British agriculture through a range of Tesco Sustainable Farming Groups, with the retailer's Fair For Farmers Guarantee meaning every pint of Tesco milk is 100 percent British, farmers are paid fairly, and every cow is well cared for.
• Partnering with suppliers to use combined expertise and reach to reduce food waste – for example, agreeing on bumper crop promotions that benefit suppliers and customers, and innovating together to use less-than-perfect produce in ready meals and soups.
• Buying more fruit and vegetables from British growers – working together to bring customers the best quality fresh British produce, including increased amounts of British cherries and apples.
• Helping customers make healthier choices – working closely with growers to provide great quality, fresh and affordable fruit and vegetables to make healthy choices a little bit easier.