Responsible Sourcing and Human Rights

As a responsible retailer we are committed to:- 

• the principles of sourcing responsibly 

• respecting human rights, and  

• promoting the dignity of all those who contribute to our business.  

We collaborate across industries and organisations around the world to help combat risks including, but not limited to:- 

• forced and child labour 

• unsafe working condition 

• restricted freedom of association; and 

• violence, harassment, and discrimination.  

Our commitment extends to all individuals impacted by Asda and our subsidiaries’ business activities and relationships, including colleagues, customers, suppliers, workers within our supply chains, and the communities in which we operate. Asda's Human Rights Policy outlines the steps we take to respect internationally recognised human rights and formalises our expectations across our global supply chains. 

We monitor and investigate issues in the supply chain, we enable colleagues within the business to understand their role in human rights and its impacts, and engage in initiatives to find root cause solutions that can transform entire supply chains. Partnering with our suppliers and their global facilities, we work to mitigate risks, drive remediation, and improve standards for workers via our risk-based approach. 

Our supply chains are vast and complex; we buy an extensive range of products and services from all over the globe which we either sell or use within our own business operations. This is managed across four key business areas: Grocery, Apparel, General Merchandise and Goods & Services Not For Resale (GNFR). The supply chains for each of these areas vary but may include the following stages: processing factories, farms, fishing vessels, abattoirs, packing and storage facilities, dye houses and fabric mills.

Transparency of the supply chain is essential to identify and manage our salient risks. Below we have published a list of our Tier 1 Food, Non-Edible Grocery, Produce and General Merchandise sites, supplying Asda branded or exclusive products. As well as our in-scope Labour Providers and approved packaging and printing sites.

Active member of the Ethical Trading Initiative, of which we are a founding member

Active member of Stronger Together, and the Food Network for Ethical Trade which continue to support their members to drive continuous improvement.

Through these partnerships we engage with other retailers, NGOs, Trade Unions, and suppliers to address risks, share best practice, investigate issues where appropriate, and establish initiatives to achieve collective goals.

Improving labour standards is a responsibility that should be shared with all our suppliers. We expect suppliers to operate responsibly, abiding to applicable local labour and employment laws and adhering to our Standards for Suppliers. These standards are the cornerstone of our programme and lay out how we expect our suppliers to respect foundational worker rights across the globe. Our Standards for Suppliers are aligned to the ETI Base Code; an internationally recognised code of labour practice. Our Supply Chain Monitoring Requirements and Guidance policy details how we monitor supply chain compliance with our standards and how we will support suppliers to demonstrate continuous improvement through the provision of guidance and resources.

We currently use third party social, safety, and environmental compliance audits to help us evaluate our suppliers’ compliance to our standards and to manage risk in the supply chain. These audits seek to monitor whether, among other things, workers are properly paid for the work they do, labour is voluntary, working hours are not excessive and are consistent with local laws, and facilities meet health and safety laws and regulations. Whilst social audits still have a place within our programme, we recognise their limitations and the need to move beyond audit to identify root cause. We will continue to work with suppliers to help upskill and improve standards within their facilities through the provision of guidance and access to tools and resources. For example, we have partnered with suppliers from our George, Food and Goods Not For Resale (GNFR) supply chains, to pilot a worker voice application to improve understanding and gather additional data on the worker experience, including temporary labour. We will compare the outputs from this exercise against audit data to identify any potential gaps and areas of risk not previously considered. We are currently assessing the feasibility of a second phase pilot to further test the complexities of higher risk sites and the applications ability to provide us detailed information on what is on workers experience.

We are committed to working with suppliers and third parties to understand the root cause and provide relevant guidance and resources to support thorough investigation and remediation for impacted workers. We ask suppliers to close any non-compliances raised in a social audit within the timelines recommended by the auditor. If this is not possible, we will discuss the circumstances on a case-by-case basis and where there is both commitment and a clear action plan to resolve the outstanding issues, we may agree an extension. We encourage our suppliers to apply the same principles when working with their supply chain. Further examples of our approach to incident management can be found in our annual Modern Slavery Statements, available on the Asda Corporate website.

This list contains active supplier sites as of the time of publication. This data is based on self-declared information disclosed by our suppliers on Sedex and Asda/IPL internal management systems. Where 'data is not available', the information has not yet been disclosed to us through these platforms. Where a supplier has requested that their information is not included, we have removed reference to their facilities in this list. Whilst we make every effort to ensure published information is accurate, we acknowledge that with any large dataset errors can occur. We will review and update this information on an annual basis.

In certain areas of higher risk, we recognise the need for further transparency beyond Tier 1 suppliers and we will continue to work towards greater visibility of the challenges faced at lower tiers of the supply chain. For example, George have mapped and published a list of Tier 1 and Tier 2 Apparel supplier sites. This information is available on the George website.

­To identify the salient labour and human rights risks in our supply chains we have used a combination of country-specific risk information from publicly available sources, self-declared supplier information, social audit trends and incidents that have occurred. Using this data, we have formulated the salient risks which are pertinent to the operation of our business and require attention from Asda, our suppliers, and colleagues, to address root cause. We have prioritised our focus based on commodity, geography, impact, and complexity, and are committed to understanding these areas better, to address the risks for the benefit of the people who make the products we sell.

In addition, to achieve greater impact for workers and to have improved understanding of the key risks across our global supply chains we have embedded the Open Supply Hub, a collaborative supply chain mapping platform. With over 2,500 accessible data points currently available, users have a comprehensive view of our in-scope supply chain network, including information on suppliers, manufacturing sites, site demographics, workers’ contracts, whether a trade union is present, alongside key compliance information such as when the site was last audited.

­We are working closely with data science colleagues to explore how open-source information and technology can provide us with real-time information and enhance our understanding of the experience of workers in our supply chains.

We will continue to explore the salient human rights risks identified and utilise our emerging data science led approach, to better understand and address root cause, whilst constantly reviewing our scope and human rights impact across all tiers of our supply chains. Action plans have been developed for these risks with early phases of risk mapping and stakeholder engagement being undertaken to better understand the role Asda can play in delivering change.

Our 5 priority salient risk themes:

• Forced Labour

• Vulnerable Workers

• Worker Representation

• Gender

• Decent Work

Relating to the following categories and geographies:

• Bananas

• Berries

• Car Washes

• Citrus

• Coffee

• Fish & Seafood

• Logistics

• Meat & Poultry

• Plants & Flowers

• Solar

• Stone & Top Fruit

• Tea

• Textiles

• Toys, Games & Plastics

• Waste Management

• Wine

• Bangladesh

• China

• India

• Kenya

• Spain

• Turkey

• United Kingdom

• Thailand

China – Toys, Games, Solar & Plastics

UK – Berries, Car washes, Fish & Seafood, Logistics, Meat & Poultry, Textiles, Waste management

Please see our latest Modern Slavery Statement for a detailed update.

China – Toys, Games, & Plastics

Spain – Berries, Stone fruit

We recognise the individual’s right to have their voice heard which can include their right to join, form, or assist a trade union and require all suppliers to respect workers’ rights to freedom of association and collective bargaining in accordance with applicable laws and practice (as set out in our Standards for Suppliers). It is therefore important that we are aware of circumstances where workers in our supply chain face barriers to effective worker representation. Through our responsible sourcing programme, we collect data to identify the availability of trade unions and worker committees in our supply chain. In 2023 we improved the transparency of this information through our partnership with the Open Supply Hub; we now include whether a trade union is present within our published list of tier-one Food, Non-Edible Grocery, Produce and General Merchandise supplier sites.

There are areas within our supply chain where we have identified an absence of independent representation available to workers. Where our suppliers do not have recognised Trade Unions present or a functioning workers committee in their operations, we will engage these suppliers to understand the value and advantages of effective representation and grievance channels in the workplace. Where Trade Union representation is not possible, we will encourage the establishment of worker committees appointed and facilitated by workers themselves.

Asda operates an ethics helpline that is available to anyone wishing to raise any questions or concerns they may have. Through our dedicated supplier portal, we signpost open-source and subsidised tools to support our supply chain to build capacity and drive demonstrable continuous improvement. We will continue to identify and include resources that support suppliers to measure the effectiveness of the grievance mechanisms they have in place (e.g., AIM-Progress Grievance Mechanisms Maturity Framework) and share best practice to ensure that the channels available are accessible by and represent all workers.

We are committed to working with external stakeholders to identify tools that improve understanding of worker experience and barriers to worker and employer dialogue. In partnership with ES3G, we are piloting a real time worker voice tool in our George, General Merchandise and Goods Not For Resale supply chain to obtain live, direct feedback from workers about their working conditions. Outputs of this project will be reviewed against the labour standards data we collect through our responsible sourcing programme to identify any gaps we need to explore. We will continue to use our programme data to focus our activity on geographies and commodities that present the biggest gap and map Trade Unions and other third parties who can support us to improve representation in these areas of the supply chain.

Bangladesh – Textiles

China – Toys, Games, & Plastics

India – Textiles

Kenya – Berries (Avocado), Plants & Flowers, Tea

Spain – Berries, Stone fruit

Thailand – Meat & Poultry

Turkey – Textiles

UK – Berries, Car washes, Fish & Seafood, Logistics, Meat & Poultry, Textiles, Waste management

All workers are subject to varying degrees of vulnerability; some may be considered at greater risk due to factors such as contract status or salary, or protected characteristics such as age, gender, race, and religion. Throughout our risk assessment of our global supply chain including both Goods for Resale and Goods Not For Resale we have identified several groups of workers across different industries who may be more vulnerable to labour exploitation. These include young and older workers, migrant workers, temporary and seasonal workers, and pregnant women.

Through our ongoing work with our external partners, we are continuing to enhance our knowledge around the risks vulnerable workers face. For example, we have identified increasing instances of seasonal, migrant workers entering the UK who have been charged excessive recruitment fees by third parties who have infiltrated the labour supply chain, have limited understanding of their rights, and enter employment with unmatched expectations of their working hours, pay and working conditions. To address these issues, we are supporting Just Good Work, an initiative that provides migrant workers with critical information to migrate to the UK and find fair and safe work. We also continue to be active members of the Seasonal Worker Scheme (SWS) Taskforce, a collaboration of industry trade bodies, retailers, growers, recruiters and non-profits focussed on implementing tangible actions to help safeguard and ensure access to workers’ rights in UK horticulture.

Worker vulnerability can increase when working in a hazardous environment. We can use our risk assessment data to identify suppliers who demonstrate best practice, comprehensive management systems for health & safety including training, storage of hazardous materials and fire safety plans. We will then promote and share this best practice with other suppliers who we identify as needing additional support in this area. An example of further due diligence is illustrated through our engagement with Nirapon, a non-profit organisation focussing on improving and maintaining high safety standards and management systems in Bangladesh facilities and The International Accord in Pakistan. These initiatives ensure the health and safety of vulnerable workers improves in markets we know have heightened risks.

As of March 2023, we alongside 8 other UK retailers and IDH, are working with a collective goal to close the living wage gap within our banana supply chains by the end of 2027. We are working pre-competitively to reduce the supplier burden and aim to promote tools and mechanisms that will help to close the living wage gaps. Our first year was focussed on gathering supply chain data to provide an understanding of our current living wage gap. The focus for 2024 has been on the validation audits and working through the data to help inform our strategy and approach to closing any gaps identified. 

Bangladesh - Textiles

India – Textiles

Kenya – Berries (Avocado), Plants & Flowers, Tea

Spain – Berries, Stone fruit

Within global supply chains, women face additional barriers of accessing decent work and fair benefits. Our aim is to promote a supply chain where all workers are free from discrimination and share equal rights and opportunities.

Bangladesh - Textiles

China – Toys, Games, & Plastics

India - Textiles

Turkey – Textiles

When analysing our supply chain data, we can see that excessive working hours affects many of the workers in our supplying facilities. Working hours is a complex topic which needs to be understood end-to-end to appreciate the role all stakeholders can play to improve conditions for workers. Contributing factors can include buying practices, capacity bookings and supplier planning as well as labour shortages and increased absenteeism. Focusing on our own business practices, we have been delivering training internally to existing buyers and new starters in our George business to improve awareness of the impact of our purchasing decisions. This will build in 2024 via our bespoke Human Rights training aimed at our Sourcing, Technical and Buying colleagues bringing the topic to life and detailing the impacts of purchasing practices throughout the supply chain.

Whilst we have initially focused on Working Hours in 2025, we aim to further build out our understanding Decent Work across topics such as health and safety, wages and emerging topics like Just Transitions.