Grass response to Woolworths statements in Sunday Times article – 21 September, 2014
(see the background to the story here)
Sunday Times article
“Woolworths’s dairy technologist, Rian Marren, said although EU standards for organic milk – against which Woolworths is independently certified – allowed for the use of open barns, all four of Woolworths’s current organic milk suppliers raised their cows on pasture only. A fifth supplier, with “supply” issues, had been temporarily removed from the supplier database, he said.”
Grass Response :
1) On the contrary, Woolworths told Grass that:
- Woolworths organic dairy is produced in 3 regions – cheese in the W. Cape, yoghurt in Gauteng, and fresh bottled milk in the Free State. Their W. Cape farms are pasture based, they said, but their farms in the north are not.
- The single farm in the Free State, where all Woolworths organic milk is produced and bottled , is not pasture based, but a total mixed ration farm, i.e. cows live in open barns, and feed on organic feed, which is topped up by some pasture when available.
- but, they said, unfortunately there is no fresh growing grass in the Free State summer, and not a lot of pasture the rest of the year, because the farmer has to make enough feed, meal and silage during this time for the months when there is no fresh growing grass.
2) So why did Woolworths choose to have their ONLY farm that produces ALL their bottled organic fresh milk, in a part of the country where conditions make it impossible for cows to be pasture based?
3) In the Sunday Times article Woolworths said a “fifth supplier” has been “temporarily removed from the supplier database” because of “supply issues” – are these issues around being unable to supply milk from cows that are pasture based? Does “temporarily” mean that it will soon be re-instated, and if so, what changes will be made to reassure customers that Woolworths bottled organic fresh milk is produced from pasture-based cows?
4) Why does Woolworths (winner of numerous reputational awards) follow EU standards which are widely considered minimal standards, when quality retailers like Marks & Spencer, Waitrose and Sainsbury’s in the UK all follow Soil Association Standards because they are considered best practice?
Sunday Times article
“So why, I asked, did Woolworths change its organic label in 2012 to read “produced from cows that are fed organic feed”? Because it “heard” Grass’s viewpoints bout feeling misled and, although it didn’t agree, Woolworths didn’t want to “offend”. Besides, he said, the new label was a safer bet because Woolworths couldn’t guarantee future suppliers would be, or would remain, 100% pasture based without any permitted barn use.”
Woolworths told Grass that the label on their bottled organic fresh milk “Produced from cows that roam freely and graze in organic pastures” was made with reference to the pasture based Cape farms where their cheese is produced, not the farms in the north. Quite how this cheese label ended up on their milk bottles has never been explained!
Other reasons Woolworths have given in the media and online are : feedback, legislative amendments, changes in their supply base and new creative direction on the Woolworths brand.(see Grass response to this here)
Woolworths seems to have mis“heard Grass’s viewpoints” entirely! We queried the truth of the label, and then asked Woolworths to kindly bring their farming methods in line with the promises made, for years, by that label and marketing.
How was such a misleading fact allowed onto Woolworths packaging, and how do you think this makes consumers feel about ALL other Woolworths marketing and labels?
Sunday Times article
On approaching Woolworths for clarity, I was told its Ayrshire milk cows go out to pasture “if possible”, depending on the local climate. If not, they are housed in open barns with sufficient space to move around. Currently, 70% of its Ayrshire farms are pasture based, but the figure can go as low as 47% depending on climate.
Grass response
Woolworths explained to Grass at length how well adapted Ayrshire cows are to the harsh African climate, and being from Scotland, they are clearly bred for the cold Scottish climate...so which local climate conditions exactly makes it necessary for Woolworths to keep their cows inside barns for most of their lives? Woolworths told Grass that barns are used when there is insufficient land for grazing!
Woolworths told Grass “Ayrshire farms that supply milk to Woolworths are split between ... 47% pasture based farms and 53% total mixed ration farms (cows in barns). So where did 70% pop up from?
Woolworths’s supplement in the Sunday Times was the biggest giveaway though! Page 7 features the Franschhoek farmer who has supplied Woolworths with Ayrshire milk for 15 years, standing with cows in a lush green field, but underneath it says : “Our milk-producing cows are housed in barns with lots of space.” But where is the photograph of the barn? What do we, the consumer, assume about Woolworths Ayrshire milk when we see this lush green field? So has Woolworths not understood what Grass and hundreds of their customers have been saying? Let us know your thoughts.
A VET'S PERSPECTIVE : Veternarian Dr Brett Bard, who inspects farm animals routinely, says : “Cows eat grass and should ideally be on pasture where they can move around freely with access to lots of shade. This would fit the minimum requirement of free range. One only has to observe cows in barns to know how miserable they are. When cows are confined to barns they don’t get enough excercise, which may result in decreased muscle tone and lameness/breakdowns. Hygiene is also problematic as they are standing and lying in their own faeces.”
(see the background to the story here)
Sunday Times article
“Woolworths’s dairy technologist, Rian Marren, said although EU standards for organic milk – against which Woolworths is independently certified – allowed for the use of open barns, all four of Woolworths’s current organic milk suppliers raised their cows on pasture only. A fifth supplier, with “supply” issues, had been temporarily removed from the supplier database, he said.”
Grass Response :
1) On the contrary, Woolworths told Grass that:
- Woolworths organic dairy is produced in 3 regions – cheese in the W. Cape, yoghurt in Gauteng, and fresh bottled milk in the Free State. Their W. Cape farms are pasture based, they said, but their farms in the north are not.
- The single farm in the Free State, where all Woolworths organic milk is produced and bottled , is not pasture based, but a total mixed ration farm, i.e. cows live in open barns, and feed on organic feed, which is topped up by some pasture when available.
- but, they said, unfortunately there is no fresh growing grass in the Free State summer, and not a lot of pasture the rest of the year, because the farmer has to make enough feed, meal and silage during this time for the months when there is no fresh growing grass.
2) So why did Woolworths choose to have their ONLY farm that produces ALL their bottled organic fresh milk, in a part of the country where conditions make it impossible for cows to be pasture based?
3) In the Sunday Times article Woolworths said a “fifth supplier” has been “temporarily removed from the supplier database” because of “supply issues” – are these issues around being unable to supply milk from cows that are pasture based? Does “temporarily” mean that it will soon be re-instated, and if so, what changes will be made to reassure customers that Woolworths bottled organic fresh milk is produced from pasture-based cows?
4) Why does Woolworths (winner of numerous reputational awards) follow EU standards which are widely considered minimal standards, when quality retailers like Marks & Spencer, Waitrose and Sainsbury’s in the UK all follow Soil Association Standards because they are considered best practice?
Sunday Times article
“So why, I asked, did Woolworths change its organic label in 2012 to read “produced from cows that are fed organic feed”? Because it “heard” Grass’s viewpoints bout feeling misled and, although it didn’t agree, Woolworths didn’t want to “offend”. Besides, he said, the new label was a safer bet because Woolworths couldn’t guarantee future suppliers would be, or would remain, 100% pasture based without any permitted barn use.”
Woolworths told Grass that the label on their bottled organic fresh milk “Produced from cows that roam freely and graze in organic pastures” was made with reference to the pasture based Cape farms where their cheese is produced, not the farms in the north. Quite how this cheese label ended up on their milk bottles has never been explained!
Other reasons Woolworths have given in the media and online are : feedback, legislative amendments, changes in their supply base and new creative direction on the Woolworths brand.(see Grass response to this here)
Woolworths seems to have mis“heard Grass’s viewpoints” entirely! We queried the truth of the label, and then asked Woolworths to kindly bring their farming methods in line with the promises made, for years, by that label and marketing.
How was such a misleading fact allowed onto Woolworths packaging, and how do you think this makes consumers feel about ALL other Woolworths marketing and labels?
Sunday Times article
On approaching Woolworths for clarity, I was told its Ayrshire milk cows go out to pasture “if possible”, depending on the local climate. If not, they are housed in open barns with sufficient space to move around. Currently, 70% of its Ayrshire farms are pasture based, but the figure can go as low as 47% depending on climate.
Grass response
Woolworths explained to Grass at length how well adapted Ayrshire cows are to the harsh African climate, and being from Scotland, they are clearly bred for the cold Scottish climate...so which local climate conditions exactly makes it necessary for Woolworths to keep their cows inside barns for most of their lives? Woolworths told Grass that barns are used when there is insufficient land for grazing!
Woolworths told Grass “Ayrshire farms that supply milk to Woolworths are split between ... 47% pasture based farms and 53% total mixed ration farms (cows in barns). So where did 70% pop up from?
Woolworths’s supplement in the Sunday Times was the biggest giveaway though! Page 7 features the Franschhoek farmer who has supplied Woolworths with Ayrshire milk for 15 years, standing with cows in a lush green field, but underneath it says : “Our milk-producing cows are housed in barns with lots of space.” But where is the photograph of the barn? What do we, the consumer, assume about Woolworths Ayrshire milk when we see this lush green field? So has Woolworths not understood what Grass and hundreds of their customers have been saying? Let us know your thoughts.
A VET'S PERSPECTIVE : Veternarian Dr Brett Bard, who inspects farm animals routinely, says : “Cows eat grass and should ideally be on pasture where they can move around freely with access to lots of shade. This would fit the minimum requirement of free range. One only has to observe cows in barns to know how miserable they are. When cows are confined to barns they don’t get enough excercise, which may result in decreased muscle tone and lameness/breakdowns. Hygiene is also problematic as they are standing and lying in their own faeces.”