Tesco CEO calls for change in UK food supply chain

Tesco CEO Dave Lewis has set out the challenges facing the UK food industry and called for the whole supply chain to work together in order to step-change the way food is produced in the UK.

Speaking at the annual City Food Lecture in London, Lewis challenged everyone involved in the production and supply of food to come together to bring about “heavy duty, transformational change.”

He urged farmers, producers, retailers, wholesalers and their representative bodies, to do this by focusing the debate on “the 95% of what we agree on, not the 5% we don’t.” 

Lewis said, “The UK food industry has done a great job of feeding the nation though many challenges. But the challenges we face today are complex and evolving. To overcome them, we must seize the future and change.

“Not simple incremental change, but heavy duty transformational change. The sort of change that means we all have to bring our expertise together and work in a very different way. To feed all of our nation, in a sustainable, affordable, healthy way.

“I believe customers want businesses to make responsible decisions. Quite rightly they deserve higher standards and responsible leadership from all of us. They want us to make the right calls on their behalf.”

John Giles, chairman of the City Food Lecture organising committee, comments, “Dave gave a stimulating, thought provoking and challenging lecture which generated a lot of debate. This is exactly what the City Food Lecture is all about.”

Lewis highlighted a number of key areas where Tesco is already working in partnership with suppliers, government and other organisations to collaborate more effectively, share insight and expertise and, in doing so, respond to the challenges facing the industry:

  • Farming and agriculture, including Tesco’sten Sustainable Farming Groups in areas including dairy, pork, lamb, and poultry and eggs
  • Health, including Tesco’s ground-breaking five year partnership withCancer Research UK, British Heart Foundation and Diabetes UK
  • Food waste, including Tesco’s leading commitment to measure and publish its own food waste data, and its work to ensure no food fit for human consumption is wasted in its own operations by the end of February 2018.

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