Correspondence
Email sent to the press office of Jonh Lewis, the parent company of Waitrose.
The email said: "I’m contacting you in light of our latest investigation which concerns the use of forced labor in China’s food processing industry, and a link we’ve discovered between companies engaged in such practices and two of your suppliers - Nomad Foods and Young’s Seafood.
Our research shows that Northseafood Holland and Unibond Seafood International are white fish suppliers to Nomad Foods brands, which include the Birds Eye, Findus and Iglo ranges retailing across Europe. Waitrose stocks a range of Nomad Foods’ Birds Eye branded products containing white fish, including cod and pollock. Northseafood Holland has imported shipments of white fish, including pollock, from the processor, Yantai Sanko Fisheries Co. Ltd., based in China. Yantai Sanko Fisheries Co. Ltd. has received persons from the Xinjiang region of China under a government labor transfer program since 2019 and until at least April 2023.
Unibond Seafood has imported shipments of white fish, including cod and pollock, from Qingdao Tianyuan Aquatic Foodstuffs Co. Ltd., a supplier based in China. Qingdao Tianyuan has also received persons transferred by the Chinese government from the Xinjiang region since 2020 and until at least May 2023.
Our research further shows that Unibond Seafood International is a white fish supplier to Young’s Seafood, which supplies Waitrose with a range of Young’s branded products containing white fish.
The United Nations, human rights organizations and academic experts agree that since 2018, the Chinese government has systematically subjected Xinjiang’s predominantly Muslim ethnic minorities to forced labor across the country via state-sanctioned employment programs which use coercive methods in worker enrollment and obstruct freedom to terminate employment.
We have the following questions:
- Could you confirm whether white fish sourced from Yantai Sanko Fisheries or Qingdao Tianyuan has been used in any of the Birds Eye branded white fish sold by Waitrose since 2019?
- Could you confirm whether white fish sourced from Qingdao Tianyuan has been used in any of the Young’s Seafood branded white fish sold by Waitrose since 2020? Does Waitrose have any comment or clarification to make regarding the above information? Please let us know by close of business August 29, 2023."
The press office of John Lewis replied: "Thank you for your email, we'll look into your questions for you. Please could you confirm whether you've contacted other supermarkets for comment and which outlet you'll be writing your piece for? What time period did you carry out your investigation?"
The Outlaw Ocean Project replied: "We are writing for a variety venues globally. Yes, we have contacted various supermarkets. We are likely publishing this Fall but we are not certain an exact date. I'm writing to confirm that our investigation spans 2018 to 2023."
The press office of John Lewis replied: "Thank you, and please could you confirm which outlets you're planning to write your piece for?"
The Outlaw Ocean Project replied: "Ian has already confirmed for you that we are writing for a variety of global venues. I'll add that these include UK print and broadcast partners."
The John Lewis press office replied: "The worker welfare of those in our supply chain is incredibly important to us, and we expect our suppliers comply with the provisions of our Responsible Sourcing Code of Practice (RSCOP). We have our own due diligence programme in place and also expect all suppliers to carry out their own due diligence - you can read further information from our website here. We have looked into this as a matter of urgency with our supplier and they do not source from Yantai Sanko. Our due diligence processes to date have also not shown any evidence of forced labour at Qingdao Tianyuan, however we would encourage you to contact the supplier directly for further comment. As the supplier provides products to other U.K. supermarkets, the British Retail Consortium has provided a statement on behalf of the whole industry: Sophie De Salis, Sustainability Policy Adviser at the BRC, said: 'Protecting the welfare of people and communities in supply chains is fundamental to our members' sourcing practices. Forced labour has no place in our retailers’ supply chains, and any practices that fall short of our high standards will not be tolerated.'"
The Outlaw Ocean Project responded: "Please could you tell us more about the due diligence steps taken by Waitrose to investigate our allegations of forced labour at Qingdao Tianyuan? To clarify, our allegation concerns state-imposed forced labour. As mentioned in our previous communication, the United Nations, human rights organizations and academic experts agree that since 2018, the Chinese government has systematically subjected Xinjiang’s predominantly Muslim ethnic minorities to forced labor across the country via state-sanctioned employment programs which use coercive methods in worker enrollment and obstruct freedom to terminate employment. Therefore, evidence of Qingdao Tianyuan's participation in government labour transfer programs deploying Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities to the factory is evidence of forced labour, at least according to relevant standards (such as the United States Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act). Is this consistent with Waitrose's understanding and use of the term 'forced labour' in the context of our allegation?"
Louise at the John Lewis press office replied: "Thank you for your email, I will look into this for you."
The Outlaw Ocean Project emailed: "My apologies for opening parallel queries but we've additional questions in relation to your company's supply chain. Our research shows that Young's Seafood supplies Waitrose with a range of own-brand white fish products, including cod and pollock (coley) fish cakes, fish fingers and fillets. Could you confirm whether white fish sourced from Qingdao Tianyuan has been used in any of the Waitrose branded white fish products sold by Waitrose since 2018? Please also respond to this email by close of business September 1, 2023."
Charlotte at the John Lewis press office replied: "Thanks again for your email. I've had confirmation that we do not source own-label white fish via Young's through China directly or indirectly, nor have we in the timeframes you referenced. It would be wholly incorrect to report otherwise. As outlined previously, we expect our suppliers to comply with the provisions stated from our Responsible Sourcing Code of Practice (RSCOP), and we're looking into these issues raised as a matter of urgency with our supplier. When it comes to forced labour, we refer to the International Labour Organisation's definition of forced labour."