Water – Grocery

Water is a key component in some of our Grocery businesses’ manufacturing processes.

Ageing barrels for balsamic vinegar of Modena at Acetum’s factory in Cavezzo, Italy

In 2025, water abstraction across our Grocery businesses’ manufacturing sites was mostly flat compared to the previous year, increasing by 1% overall. Our Grocery businesses reused 5% of the water entering their sites in 2025, an improvement compared with the previous year.

Grocery Group

As part of the UK Food and Drink Pact, all Grocery Group UK businesses have signed up to the WRAP Water Roadmap, which targets 50% of fresh food being sourced from areas with sustainable water management from a 2015 baseline. They use the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) water risk tool to assess their high volume ingredients and follow WRAP stewardship guidance to reduce water risk in the supply chain. In addition, sustainable spice and rice projects deliver significant water reduction benefits. In the UK, water abstraction across the Grocery Group sites has reduced by 16% since 2015. Although water is a key ingredient for many of its products, ensuring water usage in non-ingredient applications is minimised has helped achieve this reduction.

Allied Bakeries, Jordans Dorset Ryvita, Westmill Foods and Speedibake all decreased their water use at their sites in 2025. In addition, Silver Spoon's Bardney site reduced its water use by 15% compared to 2024 through improved efficiency at site. Contributing initiatives included more efficient pump use, wash outs and recycling more water in the cooling tower.

In 2025, AB World Foods joined the WRAP Collective Action Project, which focuses on improving water security in key growing regions. The first phase is centred on Doñana in Spain, a UNESCO World Heritage site and hub of the country’s berry industry where illegal irrigation and tourism have put pressure on water resources, threatening the supply of key fruit. The project aims to improve water management and ecosystem health through business and supplier workshops, on-the-ground restoration, stronger assurance standards and advocacy for better water governance.

AB World Foods has also partnered with a key supplier in Thailand to fund drip irrigation systems on chilli farms supplying its Blue Dragon Sweet Chilli Dipping Sauces, helping to reduce water use and improve sustainability in the supply chain. In 2025, drip irrigation was installed at an additional 16 farms, bringing participation to 50% of chilli farmers and covering 87 acres of land. Early results show benefits across the 16 farms as a result of the changes made, with yields improving by around 20%, irrigation water use decreasing by around 40% and farmer workload reducing by up to 75%, easing the time spent working in high temperatures.