Modern Slavery Statement
Introduction
We (Nationwide Produce PLC) are a wholly owned subsidiary of Nationwide Produce Holdings PLC. The company has seven business locations in England, one in Northern Ireland, two in the Netherlands and one in Spain. We cover all aspects of fresh produce supply; from our retail packing business which packs our own onions, and supply from our extensive grower group to our original core business, of the purchase, supply and distribution of all fresh produce lines throughout the UK and Europe.
We do not tolerate any kind of slavery, servitude, forced labour, compulsory labour or human trafficking and remain committed to achieving an ethical fresh food supply chain free from worker exploitation. We work collaboratively with our supply chain partners to improve awareness, training and communication to mitigate the risks of Modern Slavery in our business.
Our Policies
Our policies demonstrate our approach, supporting and educating our teams in the Company’s desire to tackle any form of modern slavery. We believe our policies allow our employees to identify and report any concerns about modern slavery in an appropriate and safe way, without putting themselves or those affected at risk.
These Policies Are:
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- Human rights
- Equal opportunities
- Anti-bribery
- Bullying and harassment
- Grievances
- Whistleblowing
The above Nationwide Produce policies were last updated in: June 2025.
Due Diligence and Risk Management
We recognise that in some areas of our business model, there is potentially a high risk of modern slavery. To mitigate these risks, we have introduced compliance checks and procedures.
Agency Workers
All agencies that provide us with warehouse labour must have a Modern Slavery Statement and show that they have clear policies and procedures for responding to any signs of modern slavery or human trafficking. We are committed to working proactively with our providers to improve our knowledge and strengthen the ability to recognise and report concerns.
Our Produce Suppliers
Within our business model, our global supply base has the highest potential risk of modern slavery. Therefore, we hold meetings with organisations in our supply chain where we can communicate openly to mitigate these high-risk areas. We recognise that audits alone will not identify all instances of modern slavery, so building trusting relationships with suppliers is vital for identifying and tackling the risks.
Training and Educating our teams
We actively promote the Stronger Together initiative ensuring:
- All senior managers are engaged in training programmes to enable them to understand, recognise and react appropriately to incidents of modern slavery.
- All new employees watch the Stronger Together video on forced labour as part of their induction.
- We display the Stronger Together posters in six different languages throughout our sites to reinforce the message.
- We have a dedicated modern day slavery incident team in our warehouse facilities.
We are proud that our commitment and passion to fight modern slavery has enabled us to become an accredited Stronger Together Advanced Business Partner.
Next steps to prevent Modern Slavery
We believe that leadership makes all the difference for an effective response. We have provided training on modern slavery to directors, managers and supervisors, while encouraging people from a variety of backgrounds and different nationalities to be actively involved.
At our depots and in our procurement teams, senior managers are responsible for ensuring compliance with our policies and upholding our position of zero tolerance of any kind of slavery, servitude, forced labour, compulsory labour or human trafficking.
Our focus over the next year will be to continue working closely with our colleagues and suppliers to identify and address modern slavery and human trafficking.
Key performance indicators for tackling modern slavery
To assess the effectiveness of the steps we are taking, we will implement and monitor the following:
- Increased training to achieve Stronger Together Champions, to be present in all warehouse settings.
- Strengthen our technical team to ensure we continue in our efforts to conduct ethical audits of all high-risk suppliers.
- Train all senior procurement staff in recognising the risks of modern slavery within the supply chain.
- Undertake extensive identity verification and new employee starter information and vary work buddy partnerships.
- Continue to use employee engagement surveys and regular one to one meetings.
This statement was approved by the Board of Nationwide Produce PLC on 25th November 2025.
Tim O’Malley
Chairman
