Waitrose adds regenerative farming logo to own-brand milk

The new label is designed to highlight changes being made on supplier farms (Photo: Waitrose)

Waitrose is putting a regenerative farming logo on all of its own-brand fresh milk from September, in what the retailer says is a UK supermarket first.

The new ‘Championing Regenerative Farming’ mark will highlight work being carried out across Waitrose’s 40 dedicated British dairy farms.

All of the retailer’s own-brand fresh milk and cream already carries a 100% free-range guarantee, with supplying farms turning cows out to graze for at least 183 days a year.

The farming practices being highlighted include cover cropping, agroforestry, reduced soil disturbance and biodiversity monitoring.

One of the farms involved is Longmoor Farm in Dorset, run by Waitrose dairy farmer Stuart Rogers.

The farm has been soya-free for around a decade, with soya replaced in cattle feed by home-grown maize.

The maize is planted without ploughing the ground, helping to reduce soil disturbance.

Mr Rogers has also established hedgerows containing willow, poplar, maple and hazel to provide shelter and varied grazing for his Holstein cattle.

Other measures being used across supplier farms include planting trees in grazing fields and growing cover crops to help protect soils, reduce water run-off and support wider farm biodiversity.

Mr Rogers said: “We’ve been doing a lot of this as a group for 20 years or so, but now it comes with more urgency.”

“We are a nimble group, able and willing to take on challenges, especially as people learn it’s making their businesses more resilient.”

Charlotte Di Cello, chief commercial officer at Waitrose, said: “We’re immensely proud to work with farmers who are taking proactive steps to farm with nature.”

A Waitrose survey of 1,095 people carried out in July found 53% of respondents aged under 45 and 58% of those aged 45 and over said they were most excited about food produced using nature-friendly farming methods.

The new ‘Championing Regenerative Farming’ logo will begin appearing on Waitrose own-brand fresh milk in stores and online from September.