George at Asda

Is Asda’s George fashion line ethical and sustainable?

The Good Shopping Guide gives George, a fashion brand owned by the supermarket Asda and its parent group EG Group/TDR Capital, a low Ethical Rating. (Find out more about Asda and other supermarkets’ ethics in our Ethical Supermarkets guide and Ratings Table.) Unfortunately, this brand receives a low Good Shopping Guide Ethical Score in our Ethical Fashion Retailers Ratings Table and has not yet met our minimum benchmark. This brand has several areas to improve upon before it would likely qualify for our Ethical Accreditation.

In what areas does George perform poorly for its sustainability and ethics?

George’s score is much affected by its parent company’s business activity. As a supermarket, Asda does not score at all well for Animal Welfare. Asda has been criticised in a World Animal Protection report ‘Who’s Telling Porkies’ for being amongst the worst performers for pig welfare. In another animal cruelty report, workers on a poultry farm that supplies Asda and Lidl were caught on camera trampling on the necks of the animals, leaving a bird convulsing after breaking its neck and tossing the creatures into piles. (Please be warned that this article contains some very upsetting content.)

It’s a similar story for George’s Human Rights track record. Over 44,000 retail employees (mainly women) contended in a 2016 employment tribunal judgement that they should be paid equally to the mostly male staff who work at the chain’s depots, who presently receive £1.50 to £3 more per hour than shop employees. The Supreme Court supported this verdict. The decision might result in shop workers suing Asda for £500 million in damages.

This clothing brand is also not Organic-certified, nor are they members of the Better Cotton Initiative. This initiative seeks to make cotton safer to grow, for the planet and for the farmers who produce it.

In what areas does George perform well for its ethics and sustainability? 

George makes commitments to tackle climate change on its corporate website, and these commitments do contain targets; therefore the brand scores well for our Environmental Report criteria. Asda has promised to “reduce [its] scope 1 & 2 emissions by 50% by 2025 from the 2015 baseline. This keeps [its] emissions well below the 1.5°C target.” 

George/Asda are also members of the Ethical Trading Initiative and therefore receive a top rating for Ethical Trading Schemes.

How can the George brand improve its Ethical Rating?

The Good Shopping Guide’s score results from 15 ethical criteria in relation to George. To reach our Ethical Benchmark and qualify for our Ethical Accreditation, George and its parent companies have several issues to deal with, including its substandard Animal Welfare and gaining Organic-certification to ensure that its cotton and other fabrics have been produced sustainably.

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.