Tesco and WWF collaborate to combat environmental impact of grocery shopping

Tesco and WWF today announced a long-term partnership with the aim of reducing the environmental impact of the average UK shopping basket by 50%, by offering “affordable, healthy, sustainable food“.

The joint venture will focus on three key areas: helping customers eat a more sustainable diet, restoring nature in food production and eliminating food and packaging waste from the sector.

The partnership comes as new research by the two organisations reveals that demand for sustainable food is high, with nearly 80% of shoppers wanting supermarkets to do more to offer food that is sourced in a responsible, sustainable way.

However, it also showed there are still obstacles deterring shoppers, with 59% confused about which foods count as ‘sustainable’ and 75% thinking cost is a barrier. Tesco’s CEO, Dave Lewis, says “Our Little Helps Plan illustrates what we are doing to address the most significant environmental and social challenges facing our shoppers, colleagues, suppliers, and communities. I’m pleased we’re making progress, but we want to go further to achieve our goal of providing customers with affordable, healthy, sustainable food.

“Partnering with WWF will help us make our customers’ shopping baskets more sustainable. Our shared ambition is to reduce the environmental impact of the average shopping basket by half. By working with farmers, suppliers, colleagues and other experts we hope to develop innovative solutions so shoppers can put affordable, tasty food on their plates today, confident they are not compromising the future of food for generations to come.”

Tanya Steel, who heads the WWF’s operations in the UK, adds: “Our flagship Living Planet Report 2018 recently revealed that the world is under threat like never before – we’re destroying forests, choking the oceans with plastic, decimating wildlife and causing devastating changes to our climate. And it’s the demand for food that poses one of the biggest dangers to our planet. It’s the leading cause of deforestation, destroying countless habitats and threatening wildlife to the point of extinction.

“We have the power to not only stop, but to reverse the damage, if we act now. That is why we are delighted to be partnering with Tesco, to help create a food system that doesn’t cost the Earth.”