Did you know that chickens evolved in the jungles of southern Asia? This surprising fact is the basis of our hugely successful partnership with Sainsbury’s. Together we’ve turned eggs into trees – more than 4.2 million of them.
Well, chickens’ jungle roots mean they are happier and healthier when allowed to roam under the shelter of trees; and healthier hens lay better eggs.
With this in mind, Sainsbury’s launched woodland eggs back in 2004, with 1p donated to the Woodland Trust for every 12 sold. Things have gone pretty well since:
In 2019, we celebrated Sainsbury’s 150th birthday and 15 years of partnership by planting a tree for every Sainsbury’s colleague. We also created 150 woods across the UK through our MOREwoods scheme, which helps landowners to plant trees. Watch the video below to see the 150th MOREwood being planted:
>> Athony Gothard, Sainsbury Milk Suppler, Slough Court Farm.
I'm Antony Gothard saying through supplier and we farm here as a partnership under Chedzoy and Gotthard. So, personally been farming for 25 years but the farm has been here in the family since 1911. So, I'm the fifth generation coming through. We’re dairy farmers through and through so we supply Sainsbury's around about 30,000 litres of milk per day, every day of the year. So, we've been a same food supplier for 12 years and working with the Dairy Development Group it's been a great experience at a time with Sainsbury's we've been both working together and it's been a support and hopefully both ways
>>Jo Lawrence, Agriculture Manager, Dairy, Sainsbury’s:
So, I'm Jo and I'm the agriculture minder for dairy at Sainsbury's. I'm here today to support Anthony, who's one of our 240 dairy farmers, who supply Sainsbury's with over 500 million litres of milk.
For our dairy farmers it's really important that there's working with the environment you know as farmers we have to be using the land in the right way because that is what ultimately makes our farms efficient and resilient. So, trees are a really important part of that.
>>Anthony:
So, we applied for the more wood scheme through the wood and Trust and Sainsbury's combined support we're any custodians of the land here and I feel that I need to leave in a better place than where it took over. And also partly two young kids, they're very passionate about the climate, there is a lot of talking about the climate in school, and they were very excited about planting trees on the farm for their time as well.
>>Natasha Gothard, Slough Court Farm:
The Willow Set Pre-School is about ten minutes down the road from us. They come and do quite a lot of visits on the farm, so the children get the link between farming and things they buy in supermarkets. So, we thought it would be lovely for them to come and plant a tree. Just thought it would be great for the kids to be involved.
>> Jo:
What's been really nice about being here at Anthony’s farm today is seeing his two sons. So, he's already told me that these trees are going to be the woods that his sons are gonna farm. so that's everything that the Sainsbury's Dairy Development Group is about it's about having farms that are going to be here farming in the future. So, it been really really good to see his sons help plant the trees which ultimately are going to be here on his farm in years to come.
>>Anthony:
So, I believe that as farmers as we do need to be thinking very seriously about planting more trees. It'll be great if everyone could plant more trees on their farms, but I do appreciate land is in a short supply. But if people can, I think it's a great thing we need to be looking into and investing in for the future.
Credit: WTML
Woodland chicken and turkey were launched with combined sales of over 52 million to date. Donations are also received from Sainsbury's Best of British apples, bags for life and a range of woodland cards.
Credit: Michael Cooper / WTML
More than 25,000 Woodland Trust Free Tree packs have been funded through Sainsbury's Active Kids programme. Meanwhile, more than one million trees have been planted by Sainsbury's farmers, with the Woodland Trust providing support and advice.
Credit: Ben Lee / WTML
Sainsbury's was the lead partner on both our First World War Centenary Woods and Jubilee Woods projects, donating over £4.75 million and £1.5 million respectively. In 2018, it supported the Queen's Commonwealth Canopy project, planting more than 50,000 trees across the UK.
Trees are clever things and act as a lightning rod for the communication of some really complex environmental challenges. Being surrounded by beautiful ancient woodland is one of life’s great pleasures and it’s a privilege to play a small part in protecting and growing our woodlands for future generations.
Call us on 0330 333 5306 or email partners@woodlandtrust.org.uk to learn more about partnering with the Woodland Trust.
