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Soil Health Industry Platform

The Soil Health Industry Platform (SHIP) is a collaborative initiative that aims to discuss, harness, align and amplify the efforts of major food and drink businesses (retail and manufacture) to improve soil health and address soil damage throughout the UK supply chain.  

It was prompted by the recommendations of the December 2021 Soils in the UK Supply Chain report and the outcomes of a workshop in October 2021 at which representatives of participating businesses discussed the report’s findings, including the report’s five recommendations and 15 actions. The Platform consists of three elements: 

Knowledge Exchange

Actions

Public Commitment

Members of the Platform meet on a bi-monthly basis and currently include: Arla, Kellogg’s, Morrisons, Nestlé, Nomad Foods, PepsiCo, Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Waitrose, G's Fresh and Yeo Valley. The SSA evaluate and report on progress made by SHIP members on an annual basis. 

Any business interested in joining the SHIP please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Past meeting summaries and annual reports:

November 2023

The meeting provided updates on projects relevant to the six categories for action that underpin the SHIP commitment. Guests included the Environment Agency, WWF, NFU and Land App.

July 2023

This meeting took the form of a technical workshop on regenerative agriculture, with guest organisations including the Allerton Project, WWF, 3Keel, Nature Friendly Farming Network (NFFN), Dairy UK, Carlesburg, Co-op and the University of Leeds.

April 2023

The meeting focused on soil carbon and scope 3 emissions. Guest organisations included 3Keel, WRAP, Defra's Food Data Transparency Partnership, NFU, Finance Earth, Green Finance Institute, Agricarbon, Mccain and academics from James Hutton Institute and University of Leeds.

February 2023

The meeting was attended by representatives of seven out of the eleven official SHIP members: Tesco, Sainsbury's, Kellogg’s, Nomad Foods, PepsiCo, Yeo Valley and G's Fresh, as well as guest organisations including Red Tractor, LEAF, NIAB, M&S and WWF.

March 2023

The 2022 SHIP report outlines a summary of industry actions for the protection of soil health, and the platform's priorities for the coming year. 

October 2022

The meeting was attended by representatives of eight out of the eleven  official SHIP members: Tesco, Sainsbury's, Kellogg’s, Nestlé, Nomad Foods, PepsiCo, Morrisons and (new member) G's Fresh, as well as guest organisations including the NFU and Sustainable Market Initiative.

July 2022

The meeting was attended by representatives of the ten official SHIP members: Tesco, Sainsbury's, Waitrose, Kellogg’s, Nestlé, Yeo Valley, Arla, Nomad Foods, PepsiCo and Morrisons as well as guest organisations including the Environment Agency.

May 2022

The meeting was attended by representatives of Tesco, Sainsbury's, Waitrose, Kellogg’s, Nestlé, Yeo Valley, G’s Fresh, Arla, Nomad Foods and Bakkavor, as well as guest organisations, NIAB and the National Trust.

March 2022

The SSA launched of the Soil Health Industry Platform (SHIP) with representatives from the following 15 businesses: Arla, Bakkavor, Co-op, G’s Fresh, Kellogg’s, Morrisons, M&S, Nestlé, Nomad Foods, PepsiCo, Sainsbury's, Waitrose, Warburton’s, Yeo Valley, Unilever as well a representative from WWF.

Supporting documents