Tesco.com - Competition Commission

Supplier case studies - innovation

Not only do we want our suppliers to grow with us, but we also want them to be sustainable profitable businesses. Supporting our suppliers to achieve this allows them to be innovative, improve their efficiency and deliver new products for our customers.

Dale Farm

Owned by 2,500 dairy farmers across Northern Ireland, Dale Farm processes their milk to provide all the own-label milk sold in our stores in the region.

The company also supplies us with a range of yogurts, cheeses and spreads, all made with milk or dairy ingredients from local cows.

Over the past year, the company has launched The One milk, which offers the taste of semi-skimmed milk but just 1 per cent fat. Its latest innovation is probiotic cheddar, which delivers the digestive benefits of probiotics in a tasty cheese.

Dale Farm employs more than 650 people at its four sites across the region and supplies us with over 200 tonnes of cheese and almost five million pots of yogurt a year.

The company's Jason Hempton says: "Our business has grown dramatically in the 10 years we have been working with Tesco. One of the main advantages of the partnership is that Tesco supports us in developing new products, challenging us to be innovative."

A Pearson & Sons

Revolutionary technology is enabling one of the UK’s leading tomato suppliers to provide electricity for its neighbours in Alderley Edge – while also helping the company to grow a tastier tomato for UK shoppers.

A Pearson & Sons’ Combined Heat and Power unit heats the glasshouses while any surplus electricity is sold to the National Grid, to provide electricity for the local town.

In an innovative twist, the carbon dioxide emissions from the plant are recycled into the greenhouses and absorbed by the crop to produce more tomatoes with improved flavour.

What’s more, by recycling the carbon dioxide during the day when conditions are best for growth, the plant reduces emissions of carbon by around 3,000 tonnes a year.

"With the support and encouragement of Tesco, our business has grown over the years, not only in size but in environmental stature" says Alan Pearson, son of Albert Pearson, who founded the company in 1949 as a traditional market garden.

The business is now run by Albert’s three children and four of his grandchildren. Suppliers to Tesco since 1992, A Pearson & Sons holds ‘Gold’ status in our ‘Nature’s Choice’ production protocol, which encourages suppliers to maximise resources and care for wildlife and the environment.

Wilsons' Country Ltd

Almost all of the potatoes sold in our Northern Ireland stores come from Wilson’s Country Ltd. Angus Wilson’s 24 growers supply us with 220 tonnes of potatoes each week – compared with the one or two tonnes he provided to our one Metro store a decade ago.

Now a significant employer, with 120 staff in Craigavon, County Armagh, the company is convinced much of its success has been driven by taste. Wilson’s Country Garden potatoes were voted by customers as one of Tesco’s favourite products in our awards schemes.

The company has recently diversified, to also offer us fresh prepared fruit. Angus said: "The fruit is freshly prepared, making it an ideal choice for today’s health and time conscious consumer. It’s in part the strength of our relationship with Tesco that gives us the confidence to be bold and innovative."

For more supplier stories see our regional sourcing website.