When customers place a Woolworths food product in their basket, there is often far more behind it than just great taste and exceptional quality. Each product reflects a deliberate journey of responsible sourcing, thoughtful design, and measurable sustainability commitments that Woolworths tracks and reports on publicly every year.
Woolworths wants sustainable choices to be part of everyday life and for its customers to feel confident that the products they buy are better for them, for the environment and for the people who produce them. As part of its vision to be one of the most responsible retailers in the world, and to deliver on its purpose “to add quality to life”, the retailer made a public commitment that every Woolworths branded product would have at least one sustainability attribute.
A sustainability attribute, aligned to Woolworths’ Good Business Journey, defines what makes a product different from others on the shelf in terms of its social or environmental impact. These attributes are product features that help reduce environmental pressures or improve social outcomes at one or more stages of the value chain, from sustainable farming and ingredient sourcing, to manufacturing, packaging, and distribution.
To deliver on this commitment, Woolworths developed a structured framework of Good Business Journey product attributes. These attributes allow the retailer to consistently track, measure and report how sustainability is embedded in its products and supply chains. To ensure transparency, the performance of each sustainability attribute is independently audited every year.
Woolworths Food has identified more than 90 potential sustainability attributes, grouped into nine key pillars that reflect sustainability priorities across its value chain:
- Energy, Water and Waste: Reducing the environmental impact of products.
- Sustainable Farming – Animal Welfare: Demonstrating excellence in farming with respect to animal welfare.
- Sustainable Farming – Responsible Sourcing: Ensuring key raw materials are sourced responsibly.
- Sustainable Seafood: Protecting oceans and sourcing fish and seafood responsibly.
- Health and Wellness: Helping customers make healthier choices and catering for special dietary needs.
- Packaging: Designing packaging that is as resource-efficient and recyclable as possible.
- Ethical Trade: Improving the lives and working conditions of people across the supply chain and in local communities.
- Enterprise and Supplier Development: Supporting transformation and inclusive economic growth.
- Good Food Journey: Supporting better nutrition through thoughtful product formulation.
Six years ago, Woolworths Food achieved its goal of ensuring that 100% of its branded products carried at least one sustainability attribute. The business has since strengthened this ambition further by going after multiple sustainability attributes per product.
This approach is already delivering results. In the most recent financial year, over 89% of Woolworths food products carried two or more sustainability attributes, reflecting how sustainability considerations are now embedded at the earliest stages of product development. Every new product concept must include at least one sustainability attribute before it can be launched, with teams encouraged to incorporate multiple attributes (especially packaging improvements) wherever possible. The result is that sustainability becomes part of the product design process itself, shaping ingredient choices, sourcing decisions, packaging formats, and supplier partnerships.
When consumers, retailers and producers prioritise sustainability attributes, they help drive more responsible production at scale to reduce environmental impact, support responsible farming practices and offer products that customers feel good about buying.
As South Africans prepare to celebrate Easter, this philosophy is reflected in Woolworths’ seasonal range of chocolates, sweets and festive treats now on shelves.
Chocolate remains at the heart of many Easter traditions, and Woolworths ensures that all cocoa used in its Woolworths branded chocolate slabs, Chuckles, sweets and Easter range is responsibly sourced. The same commitment extends to cocoa used in other products such as milkshakes, ice creams, biscuits, desserts and breakfast cereals.
But beyond responsible cocoa sourcing, many of these Easter products include several additional sustainability attributes. These include being made with free-range eggs, containing no Azo dyes such as tartrazine, and, from a packaging perspective, using Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)-certified paper board or mixed materials that are responsibly sourced from well-managed forests (FSC N002141) as well as PET plastic with 30% recycled content. The entire range’s packaging is also fully recyclable.
As we gather around Easter tables and share chocolate eggs, hot cross buns and sweet treats, one can take comfort in knowing that behind each Woolworths product is a carefully tracked sustainability journey that continues to evolve as Woolies works to make every product better for people and the planet.
This article was sponsored by Woolworths.
