Dirty Partnerships
Feb
10
Written by:
10/02/2012 12:25
Ethical companies under the spotlight over links with oil giants
M&S, Waitrose and the Co-operative have all been criticised by the Ecologist recently for their partnerships with some of the world's most environmentally questionable organisations despite each company setting high standards within their environmental policies.
The Ecologist has called into question the discrepancies between the the companies environmental policies and records of partnership companies.
Since 2005, 135 BP and M&S stores have sprung up over Britain. The agreement sees M&S products being franchised out to BP forecourts. Yet the Ecologist has been quick to point out the contradictions in this relationship. For example M&S's Plan A includes a number of policies relating to the environment while BP's has been highly criticised for its impact on environment: especially for its role in extracting oil from the tar sands in Canada.
Muttitt from War on Want said 'companies like M&S have done a very effective job at positioning themselves as ethical and people have been taken in by it. BP makes a business model out of cutting costs to the bone – that's why it is involved in a disproportionate number of accidents around the world – and that's the sort of company M&S want to partner with?'
Waitrose and Shell have also decided to go into partnership, with Waitrose opening 'Little Waitrose' convenience branches on Shell petrol forecourts in the next year. In 2011, the United Nations Environment Programme report found irrefutable evidence that Shell had caused irreversible destruction to one of Africa's most bio-diverse regions.
According to Amnesty International the association with Shell could bring reputational issues for the Waitrose brand. Peter Frankental, from Amnesty said 'Waitrose may well find their brand being sullied by an association with Shell, in particular with regards to the company's polluting activities in the Niger Delta'.
The Co-operative was also criticised for its Texaco branded forecourts which it inherited from it buyout of Somerfield. Chevron, bought by Texaco in 2001, is responsible for millions of gallons of crude oil and toxic waste polluting 1,700 hectares of the Amazon rainforest.
A spokesperson for the Co-operative stated that since August 2011 fuel had been supplied by Valero when Valero acquired the Texaco brand from Chevron. "We no longer source any fuel from Texaco’s former parent company, Chevron. We have 219 forecourts, 150 of which are Texaco-branded. The vast majority of these were acquired when we bought Somerfield, and are subject to long-term commercial contracts, which will be reviewed at the appropriate time. We give close consideration to all our suppliers and any reviews of fuel sourcing are subject to full analysis."
Graham Hales CEO of leading brand consulting company Interbrand London commented on the consequences of Britain's ethical companies forming partnerships with 'dirty' businesses and warned against this becoming the status quo for those companies purporting to be ethical.
It is clear that in a world where transparancy is being demanded from companies they should be careful who they do business with.
You can read more about all three companies in our buyers' guide to supermarkets.
This story has been added to our corporate database. The database powers all our live buyers' guides, giving the score for each company on our rankings tables.