Asda has slammed suggestions that it is failing to deliver on sustainability – rubbishing a report which claimed that its sourcing practices were flawed.

A study by Consumer Focus, the Government-backed watchdog, criticised Asda for failing to source sufficient local fresh seasonal produce.

When the research was carried out in July of this year, just 59% of Asda’s fresh produce was sourced from the UK, compared against an average of 75% at most supermarkets.

Asda’s score was labelled as ‘dismal’ in the report – a description that prompted a furious response from the supermarket-giant, which claimed that the study was “not worth the recycled paper it’s written on”.

And while Consumer Focus claimed that “Asda should be doing far better”, the company’s sustainability chief, Julian Walker-Palin, defended the company’s sourcing policy and said that the group had failed to carry out a thorough audit of its stores.

“Sourcing certain products from the UK would mean creating artificial growing environments with a higher carbon footprint than sourcing overseas and that is without considering the massive importance of our trade with developing countries so they can trade their way out of hunger,” said Walker-Palin.

Lidl and Aldi also came in for criticism in the report, leading Friends of the Earth to call on supermarkets to do more when it comes to sustainable sourcing.

“Despite shouting loudly about their green initiatives, some of the biggest supermarkets are still failing to put planet-friendly food on their shelves,” said Helen Rimmer, Friends of the Earth’s supermarket campaigner.

Richard Edwards

One of the world’s largest brewers is set to create up to 15,000 jobs as part of a local sourcing drive aimed at reducing its carbon footprint and developing small-scale agriculture in its markets across the world.

SABMiller, whose brands include Grolsch, Nastro Azzuro and Miller Draft and which today (February 26) announced plans to acquire three Chinese breweries in a joint venture with China Resources Enterprise, outlined its plans after unveiling a raft of new sustainability measures, ranging from an increased emphasis on lowering its water usage to tackling the spread of HIV/Aids.

The brewer, which has a presence in the emerging markets of India, Africa and Latin America, said it believed that local sourcing offered fundamental cost and supply security advantages.

“In each market, this has solid commercial objectives, ranging from benefits in improved quality, creating new affordable products, security of supply and generating savings on import costs,” the company said in a statement.

SABMiller is the latest in a number of high profile companies to look closer to home for its sourcing requirements. In 2008 supermarket giant Tesco opened five regional buying offices in the UK and claimed that local sourcing would be worth £1bn to its business by 2011. “With our local suppliers we have learned that small can be good, they tend to be more innovative than big suppliers,” said Emily Shamma, Tesco’s head of local sourcing.