Livestock Standards

Codes of Practice

Tesco has Codes of Practice for all primary agricultural products sold under the Tesco brand. They cover farm assurance standards, Tesco further requirements and aspirational policies.

Codes of Practice are important because… Customers are concerned with the ways in which livestock are reared, transported and processed. Our Codes of Practice reflect these concerns and ensure that customers are satisfied that Tesco has implemented standards to address all areas of animal production on all their own brand products.

Compliance

Tesco carries out audits, both announced and unannounced, on all Tesco suppliers. We also employ an independent auditing company to carry out audits throughout the supply chain. These audits include abattoir, transport, farm, and hatchery/breeder standards where appropriate. Where any non-conformances are found an action plan is agreed to rectify these and follow up audits are carried out. We also require that all farms supplying Tesco are independently accredited to an independent farm assurance scheme (ISO Guide 65,1996: BSEN45011,1998)

 

Dairy Standards

Tesco offers a wide variety of dairy products such as liquid milk, cheese, yogurts and butter. Specifications are designed to give products that will satisfy our customers’ expectations. The main considerations for listing Dairy products in Tesco are:-

1. Safety – All products must meet our microbiological standards throughout there shelf life.
2. Quality – The products must look great as well as taste delicious.
3. Legality – All legal requirements such as compositional standards and labelling must be met.
4. Customer Focus – Products will only be sold if there is a customer need for them and they deliver a fit for purpose solution.

Dairy Producers – Picture to be attached ‘DAIRY PRODUCERS 1 or DAIRY PRODUCERS 2’

All the fresh and UHT milk sold in Tesco is British, including organic milk.
 
All dairy farmers supplying Tesco with fresh milk are members of one of the following farm assurance schemes:
 
- National Dairy Farm Assurance Scheme (NDFAS)
- RSPCA Freedom Food standards for dairy cows.
 
If farmers are feeding their animals with homegrown feeds they are encouraged to become members of the Assured Combinable Crops Scheme (ACCS) or equivalent. Regular veterinary contact is a requirement of the schemes and all farms have a written herd health plan.

Dairy

All the Dairies processing milk for Tesco are inspected regularly. Tesco technical staff make sure the Dairies that process milk meet quality and safety standards, and in addition, many factories have internationally recognised accreditations such as BRC and increasingly ISO 14001 (an environmental accreditation). This ensures that the milk Tesco sells is of the best quality for our customers. Dairies bottling Organic milk have to have Soil Association accreditation to ensure they are certified to do so.