F&F at Tesco

How ethical is F&F at Tesco?

F&F at Tesco, a fashion retail brand, owned by Tesco Plc., is given a low ethical rating by The Good Shopping Guide. Unfortunately, this brand receives a low Good Shopping Guide Ethical Score in our Ethical Fashion Retailer Ratings Table and has therefore not yet met our minimum Ethical Benchmark.

In what areas does F&F at Tesco perform poorly?

This Tesco clothing subsidiary scores well on our Environmental Report research criteria, as there are numerous goals listed on its website’s sustainability page. Tesco lists its environmental progress and achievements, including removing 1.6 billion pieces of plastic from its UK operations, publishing its food waste data and the launch of a €750 million sustainability bond. Tesco has pledged to be carbon neutral in its operations by 2035 and to reach Net Zero across all supply chains by 2050. You can read Tesco’s roadmap for carbon neutrality here.

Publishing a comprehensive Code of Conduct also allows consumers to hold brands like Tesco to account, and that is why The Good Shopping Guide encourages companies to be transparent about their supply chains and workers’ rights. Read Tesco’s Code of Conduct here.

In what areas does F&F at Tesco perform well?

As a subsidiary brand of Tesco, F&F scores poorly for our Animal Welfare criteria, because of the actions of its parent company.

Tesco has come under fire for its poor animal welfare standards on numerous occasions. One instance was in September 2020, Open Cages conducted an undercover investigation that exposed the cruel treatment of chickens in factory farms that supplied Tesco, amongst other supermarkets. (This link contains pictures and videos that some might find upsetting.) These chickens are bred and reared to grow unnaturally quickly, which resulted in painful deformities. Some chickens had grown so large they could not stand up under their own weight.

F&F also scores poorly under our Human Rights (People) criteria. Global textile companies connected to forced labour in mills in Tamil Nadu, India, according to a report by SOMO. According to the research, the working circumstances in Tamil Nadu are “appalling,” with employees being harassed, pressured, and required to put in a lot of overtime. Due to their inability to communicate in Tamil, many workers from other Indian states are taken advantage of. They are frequently trafficked and kept in isolation in motels. Since the pandemic, the situation has worsened for these garment workers; there is more forced overtime, less pay, and more mass firings. SOMO discovered connections between ten multinational corporations, including GAP, NEXT, Sainsbury’s, and Tesco, and the mills that are the subject of the investigation.

How can the F&F at Tesco brand improve its Ethical Rating?

The Good Shopping Guide’s score results from 15 ethical criteria. To reach our Ethical Benchmark and qualify for our Ethical Accreditation, F&F at Tesco has several issues to deal with, including its Animal Welfare standards and Human Rights violations.

If your fashion brand values ethics and sustainability, why not check out The Good Shopping Guide’s Ethical Accreditation? Increase customer and investor confidence and stand out from the greenwash.