All private label apparel and primary produce, for which naturally derived raw materials or ingredients constitute more than 80% of the product, and which are linked to farming practice and/or land management, are to support regenerative farming practices by 2030.
Regenerative farming refers to science-based farming practices that, among other benefits, mitigates climate change by rebuilding soil organic matter and restoring biodiversity – resulting in both carbon drawdown and improvement of the water cycle. Support refers to an initiative, programme, or partnership that promotes the awareness and/or implementation of regenerative farming practices.
Nature is declining globally at unprecedented rates, and the extent of species extinction is accelerating. This increasing biodiversity loss is a critical risk to our business, the health and wellness of our customers and employees, the economy as a whole, and the inputs used in our products.
We are heavily reliant on a functioning natural environment to run our business.
We consider our Woolworths Farming for the Future programme to be a regenerative farming programme. We will continue to improve and refine it over time, and increase coverage of our secondary suppliers. When it comes to apparel, we are just starting on the regenerative farming journey, and will need to align with best practices as it evolves over time. We aim to focus on cotton first; thereafter, we will phase in timber and leather.
While we support many responsible-sourcing certification schemes for raw materials and commodities across our fashion, beauty, and home business – including for cotton, timber, and leather – we will need to research available regenerative farming programmes and engage with our existing certification programmes (e.g. BCI, Canopy, RWS, GOTS, etc.) to understand their plans to incorporate the principles of regenerative farming therein in the future, and/or explore alternative options available.
Sustainable Farming
More information on our performance against this goal can be found in our annual Good Business Journey Report.
