Tesco Our aim is to ensure that the working conditions of employees in companies that supply goods to Tesco meet or exceed relevant international labour standards." South African wine-grape grower *Tesco never asked us about what we pay our labour or what our our cottages (workers' housing) look like. That is up to our own own conscience in terms of how we treat our labour." lesco *We have an ethical trading programme which includes training technical managers, buyers and suppliers in ethical sourcing issues. South African table-grape grower 'We have met all the technical and social standards in Tesco's code but instead of buying more of our fruit they still go to other farms around here that have not.' of conduct that their fruit suppliers are required to follow the farmers say the company, in practice, makes this impossible by continually putting the squeeze on them to reduce production costs or meet new requirements for the same price.
A South African tablegrape grower told Oxfam: *Tesco wanted us to change their grape packaging from open to sealed bags. The new bags were three times as expensive and packaging productivity went through the floor because it took workers 20 to 30 percent Tesco to ..initiate policies that ensure UK farmers receive a fair farm gate price for producing safe wholesome food to the high wel-