Our first responsibility is to continue delivering fresh, great tasting, high quality products to our customers and consumers. Warburtons is a business which never compromises on quality.
We are concerned to build fairness and integrity into every aspect of our business and this begins with sourcing our materials ethically and sustainably.
Warburtons works closely with farmers in the UK and Canada to guarantee our supply of the best quality wheat. In recent years over 95% comes from our established sources and we buy very little on the open market.
We specify the varieties grown and the optimum protein levels that we require for baking our bread and to ensure that quality is maintained, we work with our partners in the UK and Canada.
The blend of wheat we use gives us the combination of the qualities we look for in our bread in terms of taste, softness and freshness. Our established sources of supply mean that we can maintain these qualities consistently.
Wheat grown for Warburtons is kept separate from the other wheat and cereals that the farmers grow and it is milled separately, too. So we are able to trace the supply back from loaves to farms.
To help to reduce the carbon footprint associated with growing wheat, we are working with our long-term partners to develop more sustainable practices, particularly in the use of fertilisers.
Long-term relationships are important to our business, because they mean we can work with people we know and trust. For example, we have worked with one of our flour millers for more than 50 years.
Close relationships with our millers have helped us to introduce a programme where we ship our wheat to the ports closest to their mills and where the mills, in turn, produce flour for their closest bakeries. This creates efficiencies in both sea freight and road miles.
We work closely with our suppliers and expect them to run their businesses in a fair and decent way, meeting established ethical standards in employment, working practices and environmental awareness.
To make sure this happens, we have a set of ethical principles that clearly explains our expectations and provides an objective framework for assessment.
We have also established a partnership with our key suppliers to address issues of sustainability together.
