Waitrose higher welfare beef farmers are to supply John Lewis with leather used for its own-label sofas and chairs.
Now, 100% of the leather used will come from British farms that supply Waitrose, with the supermarket’s farming supply chain awarded Best Retailer for farm animal welfare by Compassion in World Farming four times in a row.
This comes as the Partnership looks to actively reduce its environmental impact across supply chains and follows a successful circular design launch of John Lewis mattresses in 2021 that use otherwise wasted wool sourced from Waitrose farms.
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“Running a department store and a supermarket gives us a unique ability to connect our two businesses and innovate. We saw an opportunity to use the leather being produced by our Waitrose farmers and use it to create beautifully crafted, high quality pieces of furniture that will last,” John Lewis partnership director of ethics and sustainability, Marija Rompani, said.
The upmarket retailer said that 73% of shoppers consider the welfare of animals produced for meat important to them and 89% prefer to purchase British sourced items.
However, 80% said they were unaware if the leather they own comes from a British farm and 62% don’t take into consideration the welfare of the animal when purchasing leather.
Rompani added: “Everyone has the right to a sustainable choice no matter what they’re buying, but what this research shows is there’s a lot more work to be done to help shoppers make informed choices when buying certain products.
“By applying the same principles into our leather as we do with the products we stock on the shelf at Waitrose, we can offer the public a range of sofas and chairs using British sourced, higher welfare leather that’s distinct from anything else on the market.”
