Economic Audit - Waitrose

Domain: Economic - Economic Entity scope: Waitrose & Partners (the UK supermarket chain); its parent the John Lewis Partnership (JLP, employee-owned) and the John Lewis sibling retailer are documented below and attributed at parent/sibling level except where activity is Waitrose-brand-specific or directly relevant to sourcing through the JLP entity. Compiled: 2026-06-26 Method: Live web search only

Supply Chain & Sourcing Relationships

Waitrose has a documented history of sourcing fresh produce from Israel-proper and, separately, from suppliers with operations in Israeli-occupied territories. The key categories are set out below.

Fresh produce from Israel-proper (within pre-1967 borders). Waitrose has acknowledged sourcing a range of fresh produce originating from Israel proper - including mangoes, potatoes, figs, avocados, peppers, grapefruit and pomegranates.¹ Waitrose’s stated position is that any product labelled “from Israel” comes exclusively from internationally recognised (pre-1967) borders.² These lines are in-scope as an economic relationship with the Israeli export sector but do not, on Waitrose’s own claim, originate from occupied territory.

Settlement-linked sourcing - herbs (West Bank). The most clearly documented settlement sourcing in Waitrose’s own-brand range concerned fresh herbs. Waitrose sourced herbs from six Israeli-managed farms in the West Bank, which the supermarket told Just Food employed a mixed Palestinian and Israeli workforce.³ By 2014 Waitrose stated it had stopped sourcing own-brand herbs from Israeli West Bank settlements, attributing the decision to commercial rather than ethical reasons.⁴

Settlement-linked sourcing - halva (Barkan industrial zone, West Bank). In 2010 War on Want documented that Waitrose stocked three varieties of halva produced by Achva (Achdut-Achva), with labels marking the origin as the Barkan industrial settlement in the West Bank.⁵ Waitrose’s response was that the labelling was transparent and that it had never claimed to have banned all settlement goods.² A Waitrose product page for Achva Marble Sesame Halva remained live as of 2024 but showed the product as unavailable.⁶ Achdut-Achva is named by the ICJP (October 2024) as a supplier of settlement goods to multiple UK supermarkets.⁷

Settlement-linked sourcing - Medjoul dates (Jordan Valley settlements). Waitrose historically sourced Medjoul dates under its “Duchy” own-brand label via Hadiklaim, the Israeli date-growers’ cooperative.⁸ Hadiklaim’s cooperative includes growers in Israeli settlements in the occupied Jordan Valley and operates a packing house in the Beit Ha’Arava settlement in the West Bank.⁹ Waitrose told Ethical Consumer that it no longer sources Medjoul dates from Israel, with current sourcing from the USA and Morocco; the de-sourcing date is not publicly pinpointed.¹⁰

ICJP October 2024 legal notice and named settlement suppliers. On 30 October 2024 the International Centre of Justice for Palestinians (ICJP) issued formal legal notices to Waitrose & Partners alongside seven other major UK supermarkets (Asda, Aldi, Lidl GB, M&S, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s, Tesco).⁷ The notices identified six suppliers alleged to be exporting settlement produce to UK supermarkets - Mehadrin, Miriam (Shoham), Galilee, Hadiklaim and Achdut-Achva - dealing in dates, mangoes, avocados, tahini, halva and bakery products.⁷ Waitrose was given fourteen days to clarify which settlement products it sells and its due-diligence procedures; no public response by Waitrose has been identified. In December 2024 the ICJP escalated, writing again to all eight chains and to DEFRA Secretary of State Steve Reed MP.¹¹

Miriam/Shoham - Golan Heights mangoes. The ICJP notice identified Miriam Shoham as operating a packaging facility and mango plantation in the Ramot settlement in the occupied Syrian Golan Heights.⁷ No public source confirms that Waitrose specifically purchases from Miriam Shoham; the notice names the supplier in the context of goods reaching UK supermarkets generally, not Waitrose specifically - this Waitrose-specific link is UNVERIFIED.

Sabra hummus. Waitrose stocks Sabra-brand hummus products.¹² Sabra was formerly a 50/50 joint venture between US-domiciled PepsiCo and Israeli food group Strauss. In November 2024 Strauss divested its entire 50% stake in Sabra and Obela to PepsiCo for approximately $244 million; Sabra is now wholly owned by PepsiCo and is no longer Israeli-domiciled.¹³ Accordingly, Sabra does not currently constitute a supply relationship with an Israeli entity.

Carmel Agrexco (historical). Prior to August 2011 Waitrose sourced herbs, flowers, grapes and other produce through Carmel Agrexco, Israel’s largest agricultural exporter (partly state-owned), which went into liquidation in August 2011.¹⁴ No live supply relationship with Agrexco or a direct successor has been identified.

Product Origin, Labeling & Regulatory Compliance

UK DEFRA 2009 voluntary guidance. In December 2009 DEFRA issued voluntary guidance to UK supermarkets to label occupied West Bank goods specifically - either “Israeli settlement produce” or “Palestinian produce” rather than a catch-all “Produce of the West Bank” - and indicated that labelling settlement goods as “Produce of Israel” would constitute a mislabelling offence.¹⁵¹⁶ Waitrose stated in 2009 that it would follow the guidance for its West Bank lines.¹⁷

Waitrose’s stated labelling position. Waitrose maintains that any product it labels as “from Israel” originates within internationally recognised (pre-1967) borders, and that West Bank produce is labelled as coming from the West Bank.² Independent verification of this claim across all third-party supplier lines is not publicly available.

War on Want 2010 finding - Barkan halva was correctly labelled. The Achva halva found at Waitrose in 2010 was labelled with its Barkan (West Bank) origin; the dispute concerned whether an ongoing commercial relationship with a settlement producer was acceptable, not that the goods were disguised as Israeli.⁵ This distinguishes the Waitrose case from a straightforward labelling violation.

Ongoing third-party supplier risk. The ICJP’s October 2024 notice specifically asked Waitrose what due diligence it takes to ensure third-party suppliers do not mislabel or repackage settlement-origin goods.⁷ No public response detailing Waitrose’s due-diligence procedures has been found.

Investment, Capital & Financial Exposure

No Israeli investors in JLP identified. The John Lewis Partnership is the UK’s largest employee-owned business, structured as a partnership trust since 1929; it has no external shareholders.¹⁸ As of this audit no Israeli investors, funds, or entities hold a stake in JLP or Waitrose; the structure precludes external equity ownership by design.

External investment exploration (2022–2023) - not concluded. In 2022–2023 JLP explored raising £1–2 billion from external minority investors, which would have required amending its constitution.¹⁹ The chair subsequently confirmed the company would “always be owned by staff”; the route was not pursued.²⁰ No Israeli capital was identified in connection with this process.

Listed bonds and sale-and-leaseback. John Lewis plc (JLP’s bond-issuing subsidiary) has corporate bonds listed on the London Stock Exchange; a £300m 4.25% bond was repaid in January 2025.²¹²² In FY2024/25 JLP raised £260 million through a sale-and-leaseback of eleven Waitrose shops.²² No Israeli counterparty or bondholder has been identified in connection with these transactions.

Operational Presence & Market Activity

Waitrose is a UK-only supermarket - confirmed. Waitrose operates around 329 shops across Great Britain and the Channel Islands.²³ It has no physical store presence in Israel and no licensing, franchise or wholesale agreement with any Israeli retailer. The only overseas licensing arrangement identified is with Spinneys in Dubai, UAE (two Waitrose-branded stores).²³ Waitrose exports products to 52 countries, but this is food export, not retail presence.

Boycott actions at Waitrose stores (2025). In 2025, activists from PSC-linked groups removed avocados, hummus and dates from Waitrose shelves in Preston and Chorley branches, attaching stickers accusing the retailer of complicity.²⁴ These are civil-society actions, not Waitrose operational decisions.

Corporate Structure & Foundational Ties

Parent entity: John Lewis Partnership (employee-owned). Waitrose & Partners is a wholly owned trading division of the John Lewis Partnership, the employee-owned trust that also owns the John Lewis department store chain.²³ JLP has no Israeli parent, founding shareholder, or foundational tie to Israel; it was founded in the UK in 1929 and remains entirely UK-domiciled and employee-controlled.

JLP / John Lewis sibling - SodaStream (attributed to John Lewis, noted). The John Lewis department store (JLP sibling, not Waitrose) stocked SodaStream products manufactured at the Mishor Adumim settlement; following PSC protests, JLP announced on 1 July 2014 it would cease selling SodaStream.²⁵ This is a John Lewis / JLP-level decision, flagged for completeness and attributed to the John Lewis sibling brand, not the Waitrose Economic domain.

JLP - Cimagine technology partnership (historical, attributed to John Lewis). JLP partnered with Cimagine, an Israeli augmented-reality company, for a virtual showroom at the Oxford Street John Lewis flagship (announced 2015) - a John Lewis-brand retail-technology arrangement, not Waitrose-specific.²⁶

Profit Repatriation & Economic Contribution

Profits retained within the JLP employee partnership. Waitrose generated sales of £8.0 billion and adjusted operating profit of £227 million in the 52 weeks ended 25 January 2025.²⁷ All operating profit flows to JLP, distributed through employee wages and benefits, capital reinvestment and debt service; in 2024/25 no Partnership Bonus was paid, with JLP investing in base-pay increases instead.²⁸

No profit repatriation to Israel. There is no Israeli parent, subsidiary or joint-venture relationship through which Waitrose profits could flow to Israel; the entity is fully UK-domiciled and employee-owned. No Israeli licensing royalties, management fees, or dividend streams have been identified.

Israeli produce purchase payments. The primary economic channel identified is revenue flowing to Israeli-domiciled agricultural exporters for Israel-proper produce (avocados, mangoes, peppers, figs, grapefruit, pomegranates). The historical purchases of own-brand herbs from West Bank settlement farms and Duchy Medjoul dates via Hadiklaim (until the de-sourcing confirmed to Ethical Consumer) also generated income accruing in part to Israeli settlement enterprises. The monetary value of these lines is not publicly disclosed by Waitrose.

End Notes