Co-op to stop sourcing carrots from Israel to ‘support peace and co-operation'
The supermarket chain said it will stop sourcing relationships with countries where there are 'internationally recognised community-wide human rights abuses and violations of international law'.
The policy says that, wherever possible, the grocer will not use ingredients in Co-op branded products or sell whole products from 17 countries of concern.
Products and ingredients on the prohibited list include Russian vodka, mangoes from Mali and carrots from Israel.
They will be removed from Co-op shelves and products on a phased basis, starting this month.
The supermarket said the policy had been approved by the Co-op Group Board and coincided with the start of Co-op Fortnight in the UK.
It followed a year of 'detailed analysis' and was based on three criteria: agreement across respected assessments of behaviour which would constitute community-wide human rights abuses or violations of international law; that the actions Co-op could take would make a difference to those affected; and that the grocer's actions would not negatively affect its integrity as a commercially successful business aligned with co-operative values and principles.
Over recent years, Co-op members had made clear through surveys, engagement and motions that conflict was one of their biggest concerns and that 'their Co-op should do all it can to advocate and build peace', it said.
Debbie White, chairwoman of the Co-op Group Board, said: 'This policy – which has been developed over the past year as a part of our Hate Divides Communities, Co-operation Builds Them campaign – is a clear demonstration of our co-operative values in action, where the voices of our members have been listened to and then acted upon.
'We are committed, where we can, to removing products and ingredients from our shelves which are sourced from those countries where the international consensus demonstrates there is not alignment with what happens in those countries and our co-operative values and principles.
'As a business, we have a long-standing legacy of doing the right thing, supporting Fairtrade and championing ethical sourcing, and this policy is a natural progression of this.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
North Wales Chronicle
16 minutes ago
- North Wales Chronicle
Volunteer thanks royal family for ‘believing' in Ukraine after receiving honour
Hannah Beaton-Hawryluk was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for services to the Ukrainian community in Scotland by the Princess Royal at Buckingham Palace on Thursday. Mrs Beaton-Hawryluk, who lives in South Queensferry, near Edinburgh, said: 'It's very special because the last three years with the Ukrainian community has been quite a challenge. 'And to be recognised is the best thing ever because it's for the Ukrainian community.' Asked about the current situation, she went on: 'I would say in amongst the community, the people that are already here, it's very like it was in those first days. 'They're very unsettled because of the visa extension and it's only for 18 months. 'There's a few arriving now because things are so dangerous in Ukraine and things aren't getting any better.' Mrs Beaton-Hawryluk, who said her outfit was a 'nod to Ukraine', added that Anne was 'really interested' in her work. She went on: 'I just wanted to say thank you to the royal family for believing in Ukraine and supporting us.' Mrs Beaton-Hawryluk took time off from work when the fighting broke out and she became holova (chairwoman) of Edinburgh's Association of Ukrainians in Great Britain (AUGB) nine days after Russian President Vladimur Putin's invasion. She later told her boss at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh that she would not be going back, and has dedicated her life to helping with the humanitarian efforts in Edinburgh. Mrs Beaton-Hawryluk, whose father was Ukrainian, works to ensure that displaced Ukrainian children are able to continue speaking their mother tongue.
South Wales Guardian
30 minutes ago
- South Wales Guardian
Volunteer thanks royal family for ‘believing' in Ukraine after receiving honour
Hannah Beaton-Hawryluk was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for services to the Ukrainian community in Scotland by the Princess Royal at Buckingham Palace on Thursday. Mrs Beaton-Hawryluk, who lives in South Queensferry, near Edinburgh, said: 'It's very special because the last three years with the Ukrainian community has been quite a challenge. 'And to be recognised is the best thing ever because it's for the Ukrainian community.' Asked about the current situation, she went on: 'I would say in amongst the community, the people that are already here, it's very like it was in those first days. 'They're very unsettled because of the visa extension and it's only for 18 months. 'There's a few arriving now because things are so dangerous in Ukraine and things aren't getting any better.' Mrs Beaton-Hawryluk, who said her outfit was a 'nod to Ukraine', added that Anne was 'really interested' in her work. She went on: 'I just wanted to say thank you to the royal family for believing in Ukraine and supporting us.' Mrs Beaton-Hawryluk took time off from work when the fighting broke out and she became holova (chairwoman) of Edinburgh's Association of Ukrainians in Great Britain (AUGB) nine days after Russian President Vladimur Putin's invasion. She later told her boss at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh that she would not be going back, and has dedicated her life to helping with the humanitarian efforts in Edinburgh. Mrs Beaton-Hawryluk, whose father was Ukrainian, works to ensure that displaced Ukrainian children are able to continue speaking their mother tongue.
Scotsman
37 minutes ago
- Scotsman
Why 'first draft of history' has lots of bad news for SNP and Labour
Sign up to our daily newsletter – Regular news stories and round-ups from around Scotland direct to your inbox Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... News, wrote American journalist Alan Barth in 1943, is only the first rough draft of history, a phrase later wrongly attributed to Washington Post publisher Philip L Graham who, by then, was employing Barth as a leader writer. Soviet dissident writer Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn used newspaper extracts to illustrate the domestic backdrop to his brilliant, fictionalised account of the first weeks of the First World War on the Eastern Front, August 1914. And I recall a conversation with author Michael Fry about his history of Edinburgh, answering in the negative to his question if anything had surprised me. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Only afterwards did I remember it wasn't true because I was indeed surprised that he'd obviously gone to great lengths to write the whole thing without any newspaper sources. A history of Edinburgh without mentioning The Scotsman, Evening News or Dispatch? Who'd a-thunk it? John Swinney and Keir Starmer do not have their troubles to seek (Picture: Andy Buchanan/pool) | Getty Images Political contortions I digress, and the days of coffee house patrons reading early Scotsman editions in Georgian Edinburgh, of minor Russian aristocrats browsing Novoye Vremya for the latest trends, or Washington bureaucrats buried in Post editorials were long before the new era of constantly updated digital news in which all publishers and broadcasters operate. But the phrase about the first rough draft of history came back to me as I scanned The Scotsman's website for this column. It was a snapshot of the turbulent times in which we live, where old certainties are seemingly swept away as fast as the news updates expose their obsolescence, and circumstances contorting the two parties of government with their own contradictions. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Elsewhere, The Herald was reporting the Scottish Government had given the Edinburgh International Book Festival a £300,000 bung to plug the hole created by last year's craven ending of fund manager Baillie Gifford as the headline sponsor, after climate activists put it under pressure because of BG's miniscule investments linked to oil and gas companies and Israel. 'The NHS can afford assisted dying, Starmer tells Streeting,' reported The Times, while also revealing the 'sulphurous' atmosphere within Labour about next week's vote on welfare reform, designed to save around £5bn a year by tightening eligibility for disability benefits. Implausible populism It is hardly surprising public bewilderment is reflected in low polling for the main parties of government on either side of the Border and more voters are instead turning to the populism of Reform or the Lib Dems' equally implausible 'be nice to everyone' approach, as leader Sir Ed Davey goofs about with yet another water-based activity. If, in the memorable words of Mike Tyson, everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth, the punching is coming from global events well beyond their control. Sir Keir Starmer will be seeking emergency dental treatment unless he quells the growing welfare reform rebellion or is prepared for the potentially fatal embarrassment of a Conservative rescue. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad How does he square telling a new parliamentary party of MPs brought up on opposing 'Tory austerity' that they must accept cuts in welfare to afford higher defence spending? How can he reward Health Secretary Wes Streeting for his support on welfare, by telling him to find the money for assisted dying despite NHS budgets already burst from massive pay deals not seen since the 1970s and high inflation? Indeed, how can a Labour government retain the support of all public sector unions if, as seems unavoidable, the brief wave of wage increases ebbs while proceeding with the purchase of nuclear-capable F-35A stealth fighters, at £80 million each? Meanwhile, private investment shrinks with every fleeing non-dom. Compulsory redundancies Here, SNP Finance Secretary Shona Robison is preparing public sector unions for ending the totemic rejection of compulsory redundancies, when until very recently her councillors were condemning Conservatives for making the same proposal to balance council budgets. But she must have signed off the £40m rescue package for Dundee University, where mismanagement has been taken to new levels, and where the University and College Union is opposed to, guess what, compulsory redundancies. It's reasonable to ask if jeopardy for bad management is removed to save jobs in one institution, but potentially at the sacrifice of posts in other areas not currently making the news. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad At least Dundee University's senior management have fallen on their swords, but not so those responsible for the self-made crisis at the Edinburgh Book Festival? £300,000 is coppers in the grand scheme of things, but with public budgets under extreme pressure, what kind of message does it send when a weak, but high-profile private organisation throws away money because of hysterical, celebrity-backed pressure, only to be bailed out with taxpayers' money? It may be true that what we are experiencing is the just the ripple effect of global conflict, but they could be like the ripples in the sea before a tsunami arrives. Just because bombs are not falling on us does not mean we need not prepare for conflict, and there is no better illustration of the SNP's political contortions than its ban on supporting firms connected with munitions, and the failure of Scottish Enterprise to back a welding centre carrying out work for attack submarines, while the nationalised Ferguson Marine is building sections for Type 26 frigates.
