Tesco is the largest supermarket chain in the UK with 27.0% of the market share. Last week they announced that they will be introducing a voluntary programme in September to help thousands of suppliers make positive changes in support of a low-carbon economy. With Anthesis, a Global Sustainability Agency, Tesco aim to collect and verify the emissions data of their suppliers.
Ashwin Prasad, Tesco’s Product Officer stated: “In this critical year for climate action, we’re delighted to be able to offer thousands of suppliers access to market-leading supply chain finance linked to sustainability.”
This is important, as most supermarkets consider the scope 1 and scope 2 emissions of their supply chain, scope 1 being their direct emissions and scope 2 being their indirect emissions that come from purchasing heat, electricity cooling and steam. (For more on Scope Emissions check out this blog.) However, few supermarkets have tackled the more complex type 3 emissions of their supply chain. Supermarket supply chains are inherently complex, and changing, so collecting data from individual growers or suppliers represents a logistical and data management headache. We know that the farm gate and factory emissions are where most of the carbon emissions occur with estimates as high as 80%.
As an incentive for suppliers who lead on decarbonisation Tesco are also working with Santander to provide preferential financing rates. In the cutthroat financial world of major retail sustainability measures are often seen as additional admin, and thus cost, for which growers or suppliers seen no immediate benefit.
Tesco’s grand aim, alongside the WWF, is to reduce the environmental impact of each shopping basket in half through helping customers eat more sustainably, environmental restoration withing food production and eliminating waste. The scrutiny of suppliers is timely as Tesco has recently been implicated in aiding deforestation in Brazil with their close relationship with Cargills. The soya feed that supplies Tesco, ASDA and Lidl’s chickens is shipped by Cargills, from Brazil, where mass deforestation has been taking place to make room for this farming. So far, 801sq km has been burned and destroyed for soya farming, which equates to nearly 150,000 football pitches.
Genuine scrutiny and improvement of supply chains, in a food system that externalises over 50% of its cost overseas is the only way we can truly improve the sustainability of the food on our plate. Tesco are clearly reading the mood of the 80% of consumers who say supermarkets should offer more responsibly sourced food.
