Supermarkets ranked on reducing meat

Feedback believe that many supermarkets are still failing to commit to important steps such as guaranteeing zero deforestation in their supply chains and that beyond a few more vegetarian and vegan options, supermarkets can do far more to make plant-based the default choice and to increase the affordability of healthy fruit and veg.

Therefore Feedback have created a supermarket scorecard to assess how UK supermarkets are supporting a shift to healthy, low meat diets.
 

Their research showed that:

• Morrisons and Iceland are laggards when it comes to having no policy on sustainable sourcing of soya for animal feed despite this crop being a direct driver of deforestation.

• Iceland are the only UK supermarket not to be a signatory of the Cerrado Manifesto, a pledge to prevent deforestation of the Amazon through land use change for agriculture in Brazil.

• Marks & Spencer (M&S) stand out for their work in improving the supply chain. They are the only retailer with a target and Key Performance Indicator (KPI) to increase their plant-based offerings.

• Many stores have expanded their vegan ranges over the last two years, but Sainsbury’s and Aldi are the only retailers to place plant-based proteins in the meat section.

• Six of the top ten supermarkets sell meat that complies with no more than the minimum regulatory standards (considered in our assessment to be low-quality).

• Misleading ‘fake farm’ brands are still prevalent - notably in Aldi, Asda, Tesco and M&S - despite a public backlash, media mistrust and concern from the National Farmers’ Union.

• Waitrose and M&S score well in our assessment as they have enacted tangible change both in their supply chains and in-store.