ETHICAL SOURCING
There are greatly diverse, and often complex supply chains involved in producing our food, fashion, beauty and homeware. We take the implications of manufacturing in a global supply base very seriously.
Together with our suppliers, we do business in a way that supports workers and communities, while protecting the environment.
Ethical sourcing not only allows us to give you more information about where your products come from, but it inspires us to build meaningful relationships with our suppliers. At the moment, our main focus is on Woolies private label suppliers and supply chains. This is where we have the biggest opportunity to make positive change, while also giving us the ability to monitor our changes and performance more closely. Where possible, we also engage with branded suppliers to ensure that our standards are always understood and upheld.
SUPPLY CHAIN TRANSPARENCY
We are working towards having a fully transparent and traceable supply chain. Doing so will hold us to account for ensuring an ethical supply chain, and provide visibility to our customers and other stakeholders on where our products come from.
OUR GOALS
OUR PLAN IN ACTION
Like-minded suppliers
We take care to work with suppliers who share our vision. When we welcome a new supplier to the team, we go through a rigorous onboarding process centred around our commitments around ethical sourcing and sustainability to ensure that our standards are understood and upheld. All suppliers are bound by our Supplier Code of Conduct, which is aligned with the International Labour Organisation’s conventions in relation to ethical trade and the Ethical Trading Initiative Base Code, which outlines the requirements for human rights, labour practices, health and safety standards, environmental stewardship, animal welfare, and our zero tolerance for bribery and corruption.
World-class audits
Our social and ethical audit programmes help us monitor each of our suppliers. We’re members of SEDEX, an online platform for sharing responsible sourcing data on supply chains, and we’re working on converting our suppliers to the SEDEX Members Ethical Trade Audit – one of the most widely used ethical audits in the world.
Powerful partnerships
We partner with best-in-class organisations, standards, and certification schemes to help us tackle the more complex systemic issues facing our suppliers, particularly for our key commodities sourced: palm oil, cocoa, coffee, soya, cotton, leather, manmade cellulose fibres, timber and synthetics. This greatly enhances our responsible sourcing capabilities, and helps us nurture our relationships with our suppliers.
Progress through education
We are regularly running training courses for our staff and suppliers. The subjects range from human rights and ethics to responsible commodity sourcing. Sometimes, our training topics are brought to our attention by our staff, or through any potential gaps and weaknesses picked up in our frequent social and ethical compliance audits.
DID YOU KNOW?
More than 90% of Woolworths palm oil, cocoa and cotton is responsibly sourced.
PLAYING YOUR PART
Look out for these logos on our products to help you choose wisely and buy responsibly:
OUR ETHICAL SOURCING PROGRAMMES CONTRIBUTE TOWARDS THESE UNITED NATIONS SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS: