All of Tesco’s nearly 500 UK fruit and veg growers are now LEAF Marque certified, the retailer has confirmed.
Growers who supply Tesco are working towards improvement in areas including soil health, greenhouse gas emissions, and deforestation.
LEAF Marque encourages growers to continuously improve upon key sustainability metrics on their farm.
By benchmarking growers’ progress against practices related to nature, climate, society, and economy, the LEAF Marque Standard identifies target areas and helps producers drive further improvements.
Tesco has now started the process of certifying the rest of its 8,000-strong global grower base, with the aim of completing the transition by 2025.
LEAF Marque, run by global farming organisation LEAF (Linking Environment And Farming), requires farms to take a whole business approach to delivering more sustainable, climate positive farming.
Tesco’s long-standing onion supplier, Stourgarden, which is based in the Stour Valley on the Essex-Suffolk border has been LEAF Marque certified for the last ten years.
During this time, the results of the business’ efforts to boost biodiversity are having a positive effect.
By putting some fields down to permanent pasture it has led to an increase in barn owls nesting locally and hunting the grasslands for field mice, shrews and voles.
Ashwin Prasad, chief product officer at Tesco said: "Reaching this significant milestone was only possible by working in partnership with our suppliers and growers, and it’s really encouraging to see environmental improvements already having an impact on farms across the UK.
“As we continue our roll out of the LEAF Marque across our international supply chain, we’re calling on the whole of the food industry to join us in implementing consistent, improved environmental standards to ensure the food we eat is produced sustainably around the world.”
Philip Wynn, Chairman and Acting CEO at LEAF added: “The continued roll out of LEAF Marque across Tesco’s entire global fresh produce supply chain, represents a transformational moment.
"LEAF Marque certified growers are some of the most innovative and forward-looking farmers in the world. We greatly look forward to working with Tesco’s fresh produce growers and continue to scale up our resources to support them.”
Tesco’s partnership with LEAF represents a significant element of its approach to restoring nature in food production.
