UK supermarket chain Sainsbury’s plans to invest more than £5bn ($6.62bn) in long-term agreements with over 2,500 UK farms by 2027.
The retailer is widening its partnership approach with farmers through multi-year agreements spanning fresh produce, dairy, meat and poultry.
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The move is intended to stabilise the supply of essential products such as milk, carrots, mushrooms and chicken as producers navigate rising costs, climate pressures and global uncertainty.
The expanded framework is expected to cover approximately 3.1 million tonnes of own-brand fresh products.
By the end of this year, Sainsbury’s anticipates that 60% of its cost of goods across fresh produce, dairy, meat, fish and poultry will be sourced via contracts lasting more than five years.
As part of the rollout, the company has introduced the model to 62 British berry farms, securing five-year agreements with suppliers, including Angus Soft Fruit, Chambers, Soft Fruits Direct, and Dyson Farming.
This builds on existing long-term arrangements already in place across categories such as pork, poultry and dairy.
Sainsbury’s said the extended agreements aim to provide farmers with greater financial stability while enabling investment in sustainability initiatives and innovation amid ongoing cost pressures and market volatility.
Sainsbury’s CEO Simon Roberts said: “By expanding these long-term agreements across more of our meat, dairy, fruit and veg, we are backing British and Irish farming for the future and bringing more homegrown food to our customers. This is how we protect quality, value and provenance in an uncertain world and how we help secure the future of good food for all of us.”
The expansion places a particular focus on soft fruit, a segment that has traditionally relied on shorter-term seasonal contracts.
The sourcing model builds on a system first introduced in 2007 for dairy suppliers, where pricing is linked to production costs, reflecting changes in inputs such as fuel, feed and fertiliser.
This mechanism has since been extended to other areas, including eggs and poultry, supporting investment in areas such as mushroom production and lower-carbon beef.
The company also referenced a 2025 agreement with Monaghan Mushrooms in the Republic of Ireland, which supports the supply of conventionally grown mushrooms produced without peat.
