Flowers & Plants
Find out more about our approach to sourcing flowers and plants
We source UK Plants such as:
Orchids, chrysanthemums, hydrangea, begonia, lavender, poinsettia, and perennials to name but a few. We source from growers in Suffolk, Lancashire, Warwickshire, Hampshire and Lincolnshire.
Establishing and maintaining clear minimum sourcing standards
- We require complete supply chain traceability – sourcing of flowers and plants through auction is not permitted
- As a minimum all our growers must be independently certified to the Global GAP Flowers & Ornamentals Standard which covers traceability and segregation, plant protection, worker health, safety and welfare and environmental management
- All our packhouses which apply M&S labels to flowers and plants must be independently certified to the British Ornamental Plant Producers (BOPP) Ornamental Horticulture Packhouse Standard which covers quality, health and safety and environmental management
- Flowers and plants must be sourced in accordance with our Non-GM Foods Policy
- Use of pesticides should be minimised and be in accordance with our Pesticides Policy which has been independently reviewed by the Pesticide Action Network UK (PAN)
- All flowers and plants must be labelled in accordance with the Retailers Code of Practice for Potentially Harmful Plants as appropriate
- Alternative peat sources should be used wherever possible (e.g. coir, wood fibre, etc) and where peat is used it must be sourced from named peat bogs confirmed not to be Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs)
- All UK labour providers used to provide temporary labour must have a valid license with the Gangmasters Licensing Authority
Supporting programmes that further our understanding and build capacity within our supply chain
Our suppliers have worked to embed standards and features into their products which deliver positive or lower environmental and/ or social impact. Our flowers and plants range includes products that:
- Are sourced from sites which achieve the LEAF Marque or the MPS-A Standard (which recognises efforts to manage crop protection agents, fertilisers, energy, water and waste)
- Carry the Fairtrade Mark
- Harvesting has been overseen by the South African Flower Valley Conservation Trust
- Supplied by companies which meet the Black Economic Empowerment (BBE) Level 4 on the South African Government’s Scorecard
Supporting programmes which enhance the lives of people and communities
With a partnership of over 25 years M&S was one of Fairtrade’s earliest supporters..
Fairtrade is about better prices, decent working conditions, local sustainability and fair terms of trade for farmers and workers in the developing world. We have a wide range of Fairtrade products in our foodhalls, including roses, all of which help small-scale farmers and growers by paying them a Fairtrade price and a premium that protects against volatile market forces.
We actively work with our suppliers on supporting workers in our supply chain on programmes including leadership skills, financial literacy and health.
For example, we decided to work with Emerging Leaders an NGO that provided leadership training to around 50,000 supply chain workers in Kenya, east Africa and South Africa, India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. The training takes participates on an incredible journey to a new mind-set and empowers them to take others on the same journey as leaders in their communities. Many tell us that the programme has led to improved productivity, better retention of high quality, motivated employees and less dependency on casual labour.
Water scarcity and sustainable water resource management is quickly rising to the top of the agenda for many businesses, including Marks & Spencer. We are committed to working with our suppliers to improve their water efficiency and working with others collectively to address water challenges in important and vulnerable sourcing locations. We have worked on developing our water stewardship approach at farm level for over 9 years, which started in Kenya.
Kenya is one of our major sourcing regions for flowers and water for irrigation is a concern. In particular, flower farms in the Great Rift Valley depend heavily on Lake Naivasha for irrigation which shrinks significantly during periods of drought putting these businesses and communities under threat.
In 2011, we co-sponsored a study to explore the value of water stewardship in Africa with the Alliance for Water Stewardship (AWS) and GIZ with support from a number of other organisations. The work involved pilots at flower and vegetable farms in the Lake Naivasha Basin to explore the costs and benefits of standard implementation, and the implementations for local communities and wide basin governance. The Kenya case study was the first ever exploration of how a water stewardship standard could work in a developing country. The work investigated whether existing standards were fit-for-purpose and viable in delivering better water management in the challenging context of an African river basin.The outcomes of the study have been used to develop the first draft of what has become International Water Stewardship Standard. This work lay important groundwork that has fed into an ongoing water stewardship approach in this catchment.
Building on the water stewardship work in Kenya, we continued to work with WWF and others to identify and address water risks areas part of collective action initiatives in South Africa, Spain, Peru and key sourcing locations in the UK. We are currently part of the WRAP Courtauld Commitment 2025 Water Ambition alongside other UK retailers. You can read about some of our key learnings from our Water Stewardship journey here.
Key documents
