We want to positively impact our planet, and are committed to working with our farmers, suppliers and the broader agricultural industry on the responsible stewardship of natural resources, including regenerative farming practices. We apply circular thinking to everything we do, viewing waste as a resource.

Agriculture is the backbone of our business, from the fruit and vegetables sold weekly in Woolworths and Countdown Supermarkets, to the cotton used in our BIG W apparel. As a society, we are depleting our land, water and soil faster than it can be replenished, and biodiversity is declining. Decades of intensive farming, without adequate stewardship, has reduced our planet’s ability to store carbon and degraded our natural resources. Australia’s extreme weather conditions, including drought, floods and fire, have also impacted the resilience of our land. With the world’s population projected to experience exponential growth by 2050, we need to find ways to feed more people from less. We understand the issues affecting our world, and are committed to doing more. 

Farmers also understand these issues and together we can do more to protect our natural reserves. We have committed to working with our farmers, suppliers and other partners to conduct a review to understand the potential for adopting sustainable and regenerative agricultural practices across our fresh food supply chain in high‑risk areas. We’re working to complete this review in 2022, and publicly share an annual update on our actions as we implement beyond 2022.

Across the Group, we continue to work to improve the water efficiency of our operations. Nationally, we have rolled out the installation of smart water meters –139 stores by July 2021 – connected to our Energy Management Centre. These meters allow us to identify leaks and other anomalies. In F21, these have helped us to save around 23 million litres of fresh drinking water, equating to nine Olympic‑sized swimming pools. As we continue to use the meters to collect insights into our usage patterns, our team will set targets and continue to better manage consumption.

Farmers also understand these issues and together we can do more to protect our natural reserves. We have committed to working with our farmers, suppliers and other partners to conduct a review to understand the potential for adopting sustainable and regenerative agricultural practices across our fresh food supply chain in high‑risk areas. We’re working to complete this review in 2022, and publicly share an annual update on our actions as we implement beyond 2022.