Sainsbury’s Woodland Eggs has scooped the Business in the Community (BITC) Big Tick Award for Cause Related Marketing. 

The award seeks to celebrate companies who demonstrate publicly their brand values and use their marketing to raise awareness of key social issues.  In winning the Big Tick Award for Cause Related Marketing, the Woodland Eggs brand was deemed to have made a significant contribution to both the community and the economy in which it operates.

 

The winners were announced yesterday, Thursday 14 June, at an awards dinner hosted by Stephen Howard, Managing Director of Business in the Community, at Kelham Hall, Newark.

 

Now in their 10th year, the Awards for Excellence provide the opportunity for companies across the UK to be awarded a coveted “Big Tick” for the positive impact their responsible business operations and activities have in the marketplace, the workplace, the environment and the community.

 

Woodland Eggs was launched by Sainsbury’s and Noble Foods, in 2004 following feedback from their free-range egg producer, John Widdowson, on the behavioural benefits of a tree planted environment for hens.   Chickens are descended from jungle fowl and are therefore instinctively much happier spending time in the shade of trees and hedges, dust bathing and foraging as their ancestors did.

Since then the brand has formed a successful partnership with the Woodland Trust, the UK’s leading woodland conservation charity, and to date has raised more than £130,000 for the cause thanks to 1p donations on selected pack sales. This funding has secured the future of 150,000 sq metres of native woodland across the UK, a crucial step as the UK is currently one of the least wooded countries in Europe, with just a 12 per cent woodland cover.

 

Sainsbury’s has also been planting trees on more than 130 farms since 2004, in order to ensure Woodland Egg laying hens can enjoy the shelter and protection trees provide and allow them to display the characteristics of their jungle fowl ancestors. 

 

Farmers also benefit from the brand by being members of the Federation of Woodland Egg Producers, which aims to forge closer links with Sainsbury’s.  All woodland farmers receive a price premium, to compensate for the tree maintenance and additional welfare standards, thanks to a £1 million investment by Sainsbury’s.

 

Judith Batchelar, Director of Sainsbury’s Brand, says, “Making a positive difference and being a responsible business is at the heart of everything we do at Sainsbury’s and we’re thrilled that our Woodland Eggs brand has been recognised with a prestigious Big Tick award.  We, like our customers, are committed to animal welfare and the biodiversity of the UK and we will be expanding the Sainsbury’s Woodland Egg range even further in 2007.”

 

Sue Holden, Chief Executive of the Woodland Trust, adds: “Congratulations to Woodland Eggs for achieving the Big Tick. The partnership is very important to us - helping to fund important tree planting projects throughout the UK. It’s a shining example of how organisations can work together in a very positive way.”

 

David Pemberton, Regional Director, Business in the Community, commented: "We were delighted with Noble Foods submission for our Awards for Excellence. By working with nature, Woodland Eggs is creating an increasingly positive impact on the environment. Happy hens, more trees, more business. A great example of business excellence!"
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