Ocado ECONOMIC

Research date: 2 November 2026. Scope: Ocado Group plc and Ocado Retail Limited (50:50 joint venture with Marks & Spencer Group plc). Findings are limited to what live sources opened in this session support. No scores or conclusions are given. Where a regulatory notice was available only as an AI-generated page summary, the figures are labelled as such.

Supply Chain & Sourcing Relationships

Direct supplier relationships. No public evidence identified of a named commercial relationship between Ocado Group or Ocado Retail and Mehadrin, Hadiklaim, Galilee Export or Agrexco successors; the Mehadrin/Tesco page dated 22 January 2013 [pre-2020] names Tesco and the Co-operative Group but does not name Ocado, M&S or Waitrose ¹. Ethical Consumer’s dates guide, based on labels and company websites viewed in December 2025 and January 2026, lists Ocado among brands selling Medjool dates from Israel, and separately describes Hadiklaim as an Israeli exporter that also makes supermarket own brands and Mehadrin as Israel’s largest grower and exporter of citrus, avocado and dates; the guide does not state which exporter supplied Ocado ². Ethical Consumer is a consumer-advocacy publication and its supplier-origin findings are label observations, not a regulatory finding ². The status of the 2013 relationships for other retailers is not established by the page and has no bearing on Ocado’s current position ¹.

Importer of record structure. No public evidence identified of an Ocado-owned or joint-venture import entity for Israeli-origin goods; Ocado Retail’s sustainability page describes its supplier controls (Sedex registration, SMETA audits, Ethical Sourcing Code) for Ocado Own Brand products and does not mention Israel ³. The same page identifies Ocado Retail Limited as registered in England and Wales and does not describe any import vehicle ³.

Seasonal sourcing patterns. The Ethical Consumer label checks were made in December 2025 and January 2026, which falls in the counter-seasonal window, and recorded Israeli-origin Medjool dates on Ocado, with some brands also selling dates from other countries ². No public evidence identified of recurring December–April procurement by Ocado across multiple seasons; the Ocado Retail sustainability page names no sourcing countries or regions ³. No public evidence identified from an opened source of the country-of-origin wording on Ocado own-brand avocado or red grapefruit listings; the Ethical Consumer guide covers dates only ².

Third-party and indirect sourcing. M&S food reaches Ocado customers through the 2019 joint venture: M&S stated that over 6,500 M&S food products would be available through Ocado’s website from August 2019 [pre-2020] ⁴. Whether any of those lines are Israeli-origin is not stated in that source ⁴. M&S’s own settlement-sourcing position, as quoted by Corporate Watch from an M&S letter of 2008, was “We do not buy products from the West Bank, Golan Heights or Gaza” [pre-2020] ⁵. Corporate Watch wrote in February 2009 that M&S still appeared to stock Hadiklaim dates despite such assurances, and reported that M&S’s Technical Food Director said the contract prohibited purchases from the Palestinian Territories [pre-2020] ⁵. The same source does not mention Ocado ⁵. A report dated 16 July 2026 states that M&S continues to stock Israeli agricultural produce, naming Maris Piper potatoes labelled as a product of Israel at its Worthing store, with no supplier named and no mention of Ocado ⁶. The UK Lawyers for Israel account of the same incident is dated 15 July 2026 and also names no supplier ⁷. UK HMRC-based figures for the first half of 2025 show Israeli food imports fell 17% from GBP121m to GBP101m year on year, and the article does not mention Ocado ⁸. In 2009 [pre-2020] Ocado launched a Kosher for Passover range of 138 products from Osem, Gilberts, Rakusens, Yarden, Kedem and Manischewitz, and the article states no country of origin for any supplier; discontinued or continuing status is unknown ⁹.

Named-entity and act record.

• Mehadrin (Mehadrin Tnuport Export), Israeli produce exporter: searched with Ocado, Ocado Retail and Who Profits; no Ocado link found; the opened Corporate Watch-based record concerns Tesco and states that Mehadrin did not respond ¹.
• Mehadrin, Jordan Valley links: Al-Haq and Just Peace Advocates (25 February 2026) report that Mehadrin owns grapefruit plantations in the Jordan Valley and exports dates grown in settlements, and that Mehadrin-linked dates were found at Costco and Loblaws in Canada in 2026; the page does not name Ocado ¹⁰.
• Mehadrin and Hadiklaim, settlement-grown dates: Ethical Consumer attributes to an investigation by Jerusalem24, Danwatch and Y+ the finding that both export settlement-grown dates to Europe; the underlying investigation was not opened, so the claim is unverified here and is not tied to Ocado ².
• Hadiklaim, Israeli date exporter: searched by name with M&S and Ocado; the 2009 Corporate Watch record names M&S, not Ocado, and its current status is unknown ⁵.
• Yehuda Matzos (Moshe Ludmir & Sons), Jerusalem matzo maker, founded 1921 in Safed and based in Givat Shaul since 1949: searched by name; the opened source gives company history only and does not mention Ocado ¹¹.
• Telma, Israeli food brand: searched by name with Ocado; no opened page documents a supply arrangement ³.
• Ocado Retail Limited, M&S joint-venture grocer and operator of the Ocado.com shop: Ethical Consumer lists it among brands selling Israeli-origin Medjool dates; the channel is the company’s own retail site, the recipients are UK online grocery customers, the earliest and latest observation is December 2025 to January 2026, and whether it is continuing is unknown after January 2026 because no later check was opened ^{2, 3}.
• Marks & Spencer Group plc, 50% owner of Ocado Retail since August 2019: its Israeli produce stocking is reported for July 2026 at a Worthing store, channel being M&S stores and not Ocado, latest observation 16 July 2026, status continuing as reported ⁶.

Product Origin, Labeling & Regulatory Compliance

Settlement-origin products. No public evidence identified that Ocado or Ocado Retail sold goods suspected or confirmed to originate from settlements; Ethical Consumer states that across its research it did not come across any goods labelled as coming from settlements ². The Mehadrin mislabelling allegation by Corporate Watch dated 22 January 2013 [pre-2020] concerned Tesco’s supplier ¹. A report published 10 June 2026 by the Global Echo Litigation Center, covered by Middle East Monitor, analysed 6,827 Israeli agricultural export shipments from October 2017 to February 2026 and alleges that more than 17% of shipments to Europe contained settlement products labelled as Israeli; the coverage names no retailer, including Ocado ¹².

Labelling compliance. Defra announced voluntary guidance on 11 December 2009 [pre-2020] that settlement or occupied-territory produce should carry more precise origin labels such as “Palestinian produce”, and stated that labelling it “Produce of Israel” would almost certainly be an offence because the area lies outside Israel’s internationally recognised borders ¹³. Ethical Consumer reports that Defra told it dried dates fall outside fruit and vegetable marketing standards so their labelling is voluntary, that voluntary origin information must still be accurate, and that enforcement is by local authorities with HMRC checking origin where doubts arise ². No public evidence identified of any enforcement action, advisory or citation naming Ocado ^{13, 2}.

Corporate labelling policy. No public evidence identified of an Ocado policy on sourcing or labelling goods from occupied or contested territories; Ocado Retail’s published ethical-sourcing commitments cover Own Brand supply-chain audits and do not mention Israel or settlements ³. A Change.org petition created 8 October 2025 lists Ocado as a “decision maker” among retailers it asks to suspend sourcing ingredients from Israel and to label ingredient origin; it holds 66 signatures and states nothing specific about Ocado ¹⁴. That page is a campaign demand and not an Ocado position ¹⁴.

OHCHR and UN records. The OHCHR database of business enterprises under Human Rights Council resolutions 31/36 and 53/25 is mirrored by OpenSanctions with 212 entities; the page opened does not list company names, so Ocado’s presence or absence could not be read from it ¹⁵. The 2020 first iteration listed 112 businesses against ten activity types, according to a Just Security explainer dated 10 March 2020 ¹⁶. A UN Geneva newsroom note of 29 September 2025 states that OHCHR fully assessed 215 companies including the 97 in the 2023 update, found reasonable grounds to believe 158 were involved in listed activities, removed seven from the 2023 list because involvement had ceased, and that listed enterprises are domiciled in Israel and in countries including the United Kingdom; it names no company ¹⁷. No public evidence identified that Ocado Group, Ocado Retail or their principals are named in the OHCHR statements, A/HRC/59/23, Who Profits or AFSC material in the sources opened ^{15, 16, 17}.

Investment, Capital & Financial Exposure

Foreign direct investment. No public evidence identified of Ocado investment in Israel, including acquisitions, factories, data centres, logistics hubs or real estate; Ocado’s locations page lists development centres and offices in the UK, USA, Canada, Spain, Poland, Bulgaria, Greece, Sweden, Singapore, South Korea and Japan, and Israel does not appear ¹⁸. No Israeli operating company acquired or controlled by Ocado was identified; Ocado’s verified 2020 acquisition of Kindred Systems (about USD262m in cash, based in San Francisco and Toronto, announced 2 November 2020) was a North American target ¹⁹.

R&D and innovation centres. No public evidence identified of an Ocado R&D facility, innovation lab or accelerator in Israel; the Ocado Group about page describes Ocado Technology as a team of over 2,000 technologists and does not mention Israel ^{20, 18}.

Parent and beneficial ownership. Ocado Group plc is the listed parent; Ocado Retail is a 50:50 joint venture with Marks & Spencer Group, per Ocado Group’s current about page ²⁰. Ocado’s half-year results for the 26 weeks to 31 May 2026, dated 16 July 2026, describe Ocado Retail as a 50:50 joint venture between M&S and Ocado Group and carry it as an associate ²¹. Ocado’s results for the 52 weeks to 30 November 2025 state that in April 2025 the Group transferred its tie-breaking rights in Ocado Retail to M&S and ceased to fully consolidate the business, that there was no change in the shareholding or economic interest of the two shareholders and no transfer of consideration, and that the 50% share was recognised at a fair value of £750.0m with a gain of £782.6m ²². Ocado’s shareholder-information page opened lists no substantial shareholders and does not mention Israel ^{23, 24}. The Annual Financial Report for the 52 weeks to 30 November 2025 was published with the 2026 AGM notice for 28 April 2026, and the announcement opened contains no shareholder register ²⁵.

M&S payment for Ocado Retail: announced terms and 2026 status. The terms announced on 27 February 2019 [pre-2020], as reproduced by City AM, were £750m in total for a 50% stake in Ocado Retail, made up of £562.5m in upfront cash and a £187.5m deferred cash payment due five years after completion, with interest on the deferred payment mentioned but no rate stated ²⁶. Internet Retailing and Food Manufacture, both dated 27 February 2019 [pre-2020], confirm the £750m headline, and Internet Retailing confirms that £187.5m of it was deferred ^{27, 28}. Completion took place around 5 August 2019 [pre-2020] ^{4, 29}. The earlier audit wording of “GBP560m upfront” follows City AM’s 2026 phrasing and is corrected here: the announced upfront figure was £562.5m, and one aggregator item on the completion reports an initial cash consideration of £560.9m and contingent consideration of £202.4m, figures that do not reconcile with the announced terms and are not relied on ^{26, 30, 29}. The deferred element was contingent on undisclosed performance targets for the year to November 2023, with a final payment of £190.7m reported as due in August 2024; that figure exceeds the £187.5m principal by £3.2m, and that the difference is accrued interest is an inference not stated in any opened source ^{31, 32}. M&S’s chief executive said on 21 May 2024 that the target was binary and was not met and “we continue to write the accounting value (of the payment) as zero” ³². City AM reported on 1 March 2024 that Ocado had booked an estimated £28m for the payment, that its chief executive called the figure “ludicrously low”, and that Ocado had warned of possible legal action ³¹. City AM reported on 17 July 2025 that the payment was still under negotiation ³³. Ocado’s own half-year results of 16 July 2026 show a contingent consideration receivable of £nil, against £0.7m at the FY25 year-end ²¹. City AM reported on 28 July 2026, citing The Times and its own understanding, that Ocado had dropped its pursuit of the £190.7m, that M&S had not paid it after the venture missed undisclosed targets, and that the two companies had a good relationship with positive discussions, and the same article reports M&S pressing for technical improvements and better contract terms ^{30, 34}. That is press reporting and not a company announcement; no opened Ocado or M&S disclosure states the terms of any settlement or confirms the date the claim was dropped, and M&S’s own 2026 wording on the payment was not retrieved ^{30, 21}. The status at the research date is therefore: not paid, carried at nil in Ocado’s HY26 balance sheet, and reported by the press as no longer pursued ^{21, 30}.

Holders of 10% or more (2026 notices). As summarised on the Investegate page for the holding notice of 12 March 2026, Apple III Limited held 84,790,340 shares, 10.071965% of voting rights, after crossing a threshold on 11 March 2026, up from 10.035900% in the previous notification, with no financial instruments, and the summary states it is not controlled by any other entity; the chain of controlled undertakings is not given on the page ³⁵. The Ocado PDMR notice for 11 March 2026 describes Apple III Limited as a closely associated person of non-executive director Jörn Rausing and records a purchase of 910,698 ordinary shares at £2.019 per share, £1,838,657.37 in total, on the London Stock Exchange ³⁶. MarketScreener lists Jörn Rausing as holding 86,579,642 shares, 10.23%, dated 12 March 2026 ³⁷. As summarised on the Investegate page, Lingotto Investment Management LLP reported on a threshold crossing of 13 March 2026 a total of 14.99%, being 9.75% in shares (82,095,339) and 5.24% in instruments (42,694,534, options expiring up to 18 December 2026), down from 16.21% ³⁸. As summarised on the Investegate page, a further Lingotto notice for 1 September 2026 reports 11.97% in total, being 11.63% in shares and 0.34% in instruments, down from 15.15%; the summary’s “total voting rights” figure of 101,317,947 is inconsistent with the issuer’s share count and is not relied on ³⁹. Both Lingotto figures come from AI-generated page summaries and the original notice text was not seen ^{38, 39}. Exor’s 2022 press release says Exor and Covéa each contributed equally to Lingotto’s assets and names its leadership, and City AM (26 June 2023) says Lingotto is run by the Agnelli family and chaired by George Osborne; neither page mentions Israel ^{40, 41}.

Portfolio and fund exposure. No public evidence identified of Ocado holdings in Israeli-domiciled companies, Israeli sovereign bonds or Israel-focused funds ^{20, 23}. For controlling principals, Wikipedia reports that Jörn Rausing co-owns Tetra Laval and, with his siblings, holds a 20% stake in International Flavors & Fragrances, and the page mentions no Israel link ⁴². Globes reported on 7 May 2018 [pre-2020] that International Flavors & Fragrances agreed to buy Israel’s Frutarom for about USD7.1bn and would maintain Frutarom’s R&D and production activity in Israel for at least three years; the page does not mention Rausing, the Rausing holding in IFF was not verified against a filing, and it would be a passive minority stake in a US-listed company, so its current status is unknown ^{43, 42}.

Technology partners (context for Digital). Ocado Group lists 15 online grocery partners (Aeon, Alcampo, Asda, Auchan Retail Poland, Bon Preu, Coles, Groupe Casino, ICA, Kroger, Lotte, Morrisons, Nemlig, Ocado, Panda and Sobeys), none Israeli, plus a non-grocery partnership with McKesson ²⁰. Asda and Ocado announced on 29 May 2026 a deal for Asda’s UK online business on the Ocado Smart Platform with go-live in early 2027, replacing Asda’s existing e-commerce infrastructure ⁴⁴. In that source Aldi appears only as a market-share comparator, and no public evidence identified of an Ocado-Aldi arrangement ⁴⁴. Auchan Retail Poland’s Ocado Smart Platform partnership (announced March 2022) opened a fulfilment centre in November 2025, and the page does not mention Israel ⁴⁵. Ocado’s preliminary results announcement of 26 February 2026 contains no reference to Israel ⁴⁶.

Named-entity and act record.

• Ocado Group plc, parent and recipient of the deferred payment: searched with Israel, subsidiary and acquisition, none found in opened sources; searched with the M&S payment, where the deferred consideration was reported as unpaid and carried at £nil in its HY26 results dated 16 July 2026, with the earliest observation of the terms on 27 February 2019 and the latest on 28 July 2026, and the channel being its own regulatory results and press reporting on cityam.com ^{18, 20, 19, 26, 21, 30}.
• Ocado Retail Limited, 50% owned by Ocado Group and 50% by M&S: searched with Israel and settlement terms; the only item found is the Ethical Consumer label observation of Israeli-origin Medjool dates, December 2025 to January 2026 ^{20, 34, 3, 2}.
• Marks & Spencer Group plc, 50% owner of Ocado Retail and the payer of the deferred consideration: searched for Israeli sourcing, where the verified acts are M&S’s 2008 statement, quoted by Corporate Watch, that it does not buy products from the West Bank, Golan Heights or Gaza and the July 2026 Worthing incident, neither documenting Ocado ^{5, 6}; searched for the deferred payment to Ocado Group plc, where M&S’s chief executive said on 21 May 2024 that it carried the payment at zero, the last dated observation is the City AM report of 28 July 2026, and the status is reported by the press as not paid and no longer pursued with no opened M&S disclosure of 2026 wording ^{32, 30}.
• Tim Steiner, founder and CEO of Ocado Group: searched with Israel, investment and donation; no connection found, and his listed background is Goldman Sachs bond trading ⁴⁷.
• Adam Warby, Chair since December 2024: searched with Israel; none found, and his listed background is Avanade, SoftwareOne and Microsoft/IBM roles ⁴⁷.
• Jörn Rausing, non-executive director: searched with Israel and Israeli investment; no Israel link in the board page, the Wikipedia profile or the MarketScreener page, with the IFF stake noted above as an unverified lead ^{47, 42, 37}.
• Apple III Limited, closely associated person of Jörn Rausing and holder of 10.071965% on 11 March 2026: searched with Israel and the topics of this domain; none found, and its controlling chain is not stated on the page opened ^{35, 36}.
• Lingotto Investment Management LLP, holder of 14.99% on 13 March 2026 and 11.97% on 1 September 2026 as summarised: searched with Israel; none found in the Exor, City AM and Investegate pages opened ^{38, 39, 41, 40}.
• Exor N.V., an owner of Lingotto per its 2022 press release: searched with Israel and Israeli company stake; none found ⁴⁰.
• Stephen Daintith, CFO: listed as formerly of Rolls-Royce; no Israel link on the page ⁴⁷.
• LGT Capital Partners: no holding notice or shareholder page opened names it, so searched, none found ^{23, 24}.

Operational Presence & Market Activity

Physical footprint. No public evidence identified of any Ocado office, sales operation, support centre, warehouse or retail location in Israel or the occupied territories; Ocado’s locations page, which was fetched in 2026, lists none ¹⁸.

Employment and tax contribution. No public evidence identified of Ocado workforce size or tax registration in Israel ^{18, 20}.

Market positioning. No public evidence identified of Ocado characterising the Israeli market in annual reports, presentations or press releases; Ocado’s partner list contains no Israeli entity and the preliminary results announcement of 26 February 2026 does not mention Israel ^{20, 46}.

Settlement nexus. No public evidence identified of Ocado operations, sales, listings, services, sourcing or distribution in or to settlements; the settlement-labelling and NGO sources opened do not name Ocado as a seller of settlement goods ^{1, 13, 10, 2, 12}.

Constructive notice. Ethical Consumer’s label observations of Israeli-origin Medjool dates on Ocado were made in December 2025 and January 2026, after the ICJ advisory opinion of 19 July 2024 and the November 2024 ICC warrants, and no later observation was opened, so continuation after January 2026 is unknown ². Beyond that, no public evidence identified of Israel-related activity by Ocado after those dates ^{18, 20}.

Corporate Structure & Foundational Ties

Founding and incorporation. Ocado was founded in 2000 by Tim Steiner, a former Goldman Sachs bond trader, per the Ocado Group leadership page ⁴⁷. No public evidence identified that Ocado was founded or incorporated in Israel ^{47, 20}.

Headquarters and domicile. Ocado’s head office is listed in Hatfield, UK, with a separate US head office; no Israeli legacy or dual headquarters is listed ¹⁸. Ocado Retail Limited is registered in England and Wales ³.

State and institutional linkages. No public evidence identified of Israeli state ownership, government board appointees, Israeli government contracts or critical national infrastructure designation for Ocado ^{20, 47}.

Structural governance features. No public evidence identified of golden shares, founder shares or charter restrictions tying Ocado to the Israeli state; the Ocado board page shows a standard chair, senior independent director and committee structure ⁴⁷. The only governance mechanism identified in the Ocado Retail structure is the 2019 shareholder agreement between Ocado Group and M&S, under which Ocado transferred its tie-breaking rights in Ocado Retail to M&S in April 2025, and it contains no Israeli-state link in the sources opened ²².

Board composition. The Ocado Group board page lists Adam Warby (Chair), Julia Brown, Andrew Harrison (Senior Independent Director), Rachel Osborne, Gavin Patterson, Jörn Rausing, Nadia Shouraboura, Julie Southern and Cathy Graham, and Tim Steiner as CEO, and none of the listed backgrounds states an Israeli, defence-in-Israel or settlement affiliation ⁴⁷. A third-party directors listing names the same board and shows tenures, including Steiner at about 16 years and Rausing at about 16 years ⁴⁸. Wikipedia states that Rausing invested £26.5 million in Ocado in 2003 ⁴². City AM reported on 28 July 2026 that Tim Steiner had announced he will step down as chief executive and move into a founder role in about 18 months ³⁰.

Profit Repatriation & Economic Contribution

Revenue attribution. No public evidence identified of Ocado revenue attributed to Israel; the Ocado partner list and locations page show no Israeli revenue source ^{18, 20}.

Profit flows. No public evidence identified of profit flows into Israel through Israeli-domiciled ownership, or outward from Israel to Ocado; Ocado is a UK-listed company with Ocado Retail owned 50:50 by Ocado Group and M&S ^{20, 34}. The only dated capital flow between the two owners identified is M&S’s 2019 consideration for its 50% stake, with the deferred element reported as unpaid at the research date ^{26, 21, 30}.

Economic ecosystem role. No public evidence identified of any assessment or government designation characterising Ocado as significant in a sector of the Israeli economy ^{20, 15}.