Zero Deforestation

We achieved our commitment to source bananas that are 100% accredited by Rainforest Alliance or Fairtrade in 2020.

Cocoa is used in everybody’s favourite product – chocolate! However, its production is often linked to deforestation and child labour.

We have committed to using 100% sustainably sourced cocoa in products that contain more than 12% cocoa by the end of 2025. We ask all suppliers of Asda own brand products containing cocoa to comply with our sustainable Cocoa Policy. 

In 2023, 90.21% of our entire Asda branded cocoa footprint was Rainforest Alliance Certified, Barry Callebaut’s Cocoa Horizons, Fairtrade certified or Cargill’s Cocoa Promise, as per our Cocoa Policy.  Through these schemes, such as Rainforest Alliance Certified, cocoa farmers adopt practices that help to protect the environment and benefit farm workers and their communities. 

Coffee is one of the most popular drinks consumed worldwide. We achieved our commitment to source Asda own brand coffee (ground and bean), and tea (own brand, excluding flavoured teas), in 2021.

Palm oil is in high demand because it is a useful ingredient for all sorts of products like chocolate, bread, make-up and candles. However, its rapid expansion in the past decades has been linked to severe environmental and social challenges in producing countries, such as deforestation, biodiversity loss, land rights controversies and poor labour conditions. However, more palm oil can be produced from the same amount of land than any other equivalent vegetable oil crop. So instead of boycotting palm oil, we’re working through the Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil and with NGOs, growers, suppliers and governments to develop sustainability standards for its production. 

We’re members of the Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), and as part of the Retailers Palm Oil Group sponsor a RSPO board representative. 

In 2023, 99.98% of our Asda branded palm oil footprint was RSPO certified through mass balance, segregated, or identity preserved supply chains. 0.2% was covered by credits.  

Achieving zero deforestation in our supply chains means working towards no legal or illegal deforestation. Achieving this plays a critical role in reducing Asda’s value chain carbon footprint in line with developing science-based targets and allows us to have a positive impact on global biodiversity, ensuring integrity and resilience within our supply chain both economically and environmentally. Certification is a route to achieving zero deforestation. To reach 100% certification across our Asda branded palm footprint, we are strengthening our Palm Oil Sourcing Standards and engaging stakeholders. 

For more details please view our Palm Oil Policy 

Soy (or soya) has become an important source of nutritious protein. We mainly consume it via meat products (it is a common feed in mass livestock production). But it’s also increasingly part of plant-based diets and is used in cooking oil, biofuel and cosmetics. With global demand for meat still increasing, soy production has risen significantly, increasing pressure on forests and fragile ecosystems. We don’t want to contribute to deforestation or the loss of other valuable habitats, so we have a clear transition plan.

In 2023, 81.43% of our Asda branded soy footprint was certified to mass balance and segregation schemes benchmarked against the FEFAC sourcing guidelines (2021), sourced from low-risk origins, or covered by regional or standard credits. Achieving zero deforestation in our supply chains means working towards no legal or illegal deforestation. Achieving this plays a critical role in reducing Asda’s value chain carbon footprint in line with developing science-based targets and allows us to have a positive impact on global biodiversity, ensuring integrity and resilience within our supply chain both economically and environmentally. Certification is a route to achieving zero deforestation.

To reach 100% certification across our Asda branded soy footprint, we are strengthening our Soy and Animal Feed Sourcing Standards and engaging stakeholders.  In collaboration with our supply base, we are working towards sourcing our soya from verified deforestation and conversion free sources by no later than 2025. We’re asking our suppliers to report on progress each year and cascade these requirements throughout their supply base. 

We’ve also asked all of our suppliers of things like fresh pork, poultry, dairy (i.e. milk, cream and cheese) eggs and pig meat products to sustainability certify the soya they use and work towards physical certification by no later than 2025. 

This isn’t something that we can solve on our own so we are working in partnership to try and address soy sustainability; we are members of the Roundtable on Responsible Soy (RTRS), which works with the industry to promote responsible soybean production. We are also members of the Soy Moratorium and UK Soy Roundtable . 

To understand our use of soya we first have to measure it. At Asda we calculate our direct soya usage e.g. soya flour and beans and our indirect usage for things like animal feed where our suppliers are working towards certification. 

For more detail view our Soya Policy 

As global timber requirements rise, we are increasing our use of responsible forestry products which can help protect natural forests and support sustainable livelihoods. 

In 2022 we achieved 100% Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC) in own brand nonedible timber, paper and pulp. Certification is a route to achieving the zero deforestation to reach 100% in our Asda branded non-edible timber footprint, we are strengthening our Timber, Paper, and Pulp Sourcing Standards and engaging stakeholders. In line with developing UK/EU deforestation regulation, deforestation free means in the case of supply chains using wood, that the wood has been harvested from the forest without inducing forest degradation after 31 December 2020. 

For more detail view our Timber Policy