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Sainsbury's agm: put quality and fairness first

12 July 2004

Friends of the Earth is calling on Sainsbury's to concentrate on quality and fairness instead of entering into an aggressive price war with its main rivals. The environmental campaign group also urged the supermarket chain to support Government action to outlaw unfair trading practices which would make it harder for rival companies to profit from the bullying tactics that many farmers and suppliers suffer [1]. Sainsbury's Annual General Meeting is being held in London today.

Friends of the Earth is concerned that if Sainsbury's focuses on cheap food it will compromise attempts to raise environmental and ethical standards, and UK farmers and overseas suppliers will pay. An alliance of 15 organisations are already actively campaigning on these issues.

Price is not the only issue of concern for customers. Recent consumer surveys show that supermarket customers are interested in other issues including environmental and ethical issues. Some surveys also suggest that people's love affair with supermarkets may be on the wane [2].

Friends of the Earth's Food and Farming Campaigner Sandra Bell said:

"Sainsbury's should use its AGM to make a firm commitment to sell food produced to high environmental and welfare standards, and that gives a fair return to farmers. It should also back calls for new legislation to stop farmers and suppliers being bullied by supermarkets and for companies to be accountable for their impacts on the environment".

There are also worrying signs that Sainsbury's is weakening its social and environmental commitments. One area of concern is palm oil, a vegetable oil largely produced on plantations in south east Asia. The production of palm oil is connected with deforestation, worker exploitation and human rights abuses, a fact that was recognised by Sainsbury's last year when it committed itself to an initiative aiming to source the oil from more sustainable sources. But the company has now pulled out of this initiative and is refusing to reveal where it gets its palm oil from or engage with NGOs on this issue.

Notes

1. Friends of the Earth is calling for:

A much stricter and statutory code of practice to ensure that suppliers are treated fairly;
A supermarket watchdog to ensure that the grocery market is operating in the interests of consumers, farmers and small retailers;
Corporate accountability legislation which makes companies accountable for their effects on communities and the environment.

2. Examples of consumer concerns include:

In a COI survey for the Food Standards Agency in 2001, price was ranked sixth in importance in a list of issues behind personal and family health, taste, food safety concerns, conditions in which animals are raised, and environmental concerns.
An NOP survey for Friends of the Earth in 2002 revealed that 63% of people don't think supermarkets pay farmers enough for the food purchased from them.
An ICM Retail Week survey in 2002 found that 43% of people regularly or occasionally bought fair trade products, and 66% of people were willing to pay more if they were confident that the producer had paid a fair price for the product. The same survey found that only 28% of people would not consider boycotting a retailer or produce for ethical reasons.
In a recent study for the University of Lancaster only 23% of respondents said they would prefer to buy meat at a supermarket, 44% said they would prefer to buy their meat at a butchers.

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