Nature

Coles launched the $50 million Coles Nurture Fund in April 2015 to help Australian food and liquor producers innovate and grow.

From a zero-waste organic mushroom facility, to extending the season of premium Eureka blueberries, our latest recipients are proof Aussie farmers are leading the charge when it comes to innovation and sustainability.

A new round of funding opens in January each year where Australian producers can apply for grants of up to $500,000 to help them develop unique products, technologies and processes.

More information on the Coles Nurture Fund can be found at coles.com.au/nurturefund.

Established in 2014, the Coles Farm Program applies to suppliers of Coles Own Brand cage free shell eggs, GRAZE® grass fed beef, GRAZE® grass fed lamb, and our Dairy Direct Sourcing Model. Under the program, farmers are required to meet strict requirements in animal husbandry and adhere to relevant standards, such as the Grass Fed Production Requirements, the Egg Standards Australia Level 3 standard or Milk Purchase Agreements. The program is a combination of self-assessments and industry body/privately organised audits. Where applicable, suppliers complete a self-assessment when joining the program, which is reviewed by the Coles Sustainable Sourcing team to confirm adherence to the program requirements. In addition to this, GRAZE grass fed suppliers complete a declaration form for each lot of animals sold in conjunction with the National Vendor Declaration protocol.

A key component of the Coles Farm Program is the Supplier Days where participants are invited to attend Coles-facilitated learning days where subject matter experts are invited to present on topics such as animal welfare, environments and production

We work with the RSPCA Australia through the RSPCA Approved Farming Scheme to offer customers a range of higher welfare Coles Own Brand products including: indoor raised, and free-range chicken; indoor raised and free-range turkey; and free-range pork. We are proud to say that as of June 2023, Coles has the broadest range of RSPCA Approved products of any national retailer.

The RSPCA Approved Farming Scheme has animal welfare standards that go beyond legislative requirements and are commercially achievable for meat chickens, turkeys and pigs and all farms participating in the Scheme are assessed at a minimum of twice per year by RSPCA Assessors.

As well as farm assessments, RSPCA Assessors also perform annual abattoir assessments to ensure the processing of meat chickens, turkeys and pigs meets the RSPCA’s Standards.

By working with the RSPCA Approved Farming Scheme, we offer a range of higher welfare chicken, raised on farms that must meet their detailed animal welfare standards and provide an enriched environment for meat chickens to grow.

We were the first major Australian supermarket to launch a supermarket branded range of fresh RSPCA Approved chicken in 2014. RSPCA Approved chickens are provided with perches for perching and good quality litter for dust bathing, as well as lower stocking densities compared to conventional systems, so the birds have more room to move. Birds are encouraged to be more active through brighter lighting during the day, but also have periods of darkness that allow them to rest properly. Interesting objects are also provided for birds to peck at to help keep them entertained. A minimum of one pecking object for every 1,000 birds is provided as environmental enrichment.

In September 2018, we launched Coles Own Brand fresh free range RSPCA Approved chicken in Victoria and New South Wales and expanded the range nationally in 2019.

All Coles Own Brand free-range RSPCA Approved fresh chicken come from farms where birds have access to enriched environments so they can forage and explore outdoors for a minimum of eight hours a day. They are provided with a barn for shelter at night and are given the freedom to express their natural, innate behaviours with adequate space to move, perch and dust bathe. These birds are also raised without the use of antibiotics which is achieved through measures such as strict biosecurity controls and animal health management practices.

We were the first major Australian supermarket to launch RSPCA Approved turkey in 2014, with all Coles Own Brand fresh turkeys sold in Coles supermarkets (only available for the Christmas period) being sourced from RSPCA Approved farms.

Turkeys on RSPCA Approved farms have lower stocking densities compared to conventional systems, and better lighting systems to encourage activity and allow proper rest. Birds also have quality litter covering the floor to scratch and dust bathe (which helps clean and maintain their feathers) as well as perches and toys to keep them active and entertained. De-snooding, de-winging and toe trimming is not permitted under the RSPCA Approved Farming Scheme.

Coles Own Brand free range turkey sold in Coles supermarkets comes from birds raised on RSPCA Approved farms in the Hunter Valley and Central Coast regions in New South Wales. In addition to the above indoor provisions, these turkeys also have access from a suitable age to the outdoors to explore and forage during the day (weather permitting).

Coles was the first major supermarket in Australia to transition to cage free across our Own Brand shell egg range in 2013.

All our Coles Own Brand shell eggs sold nationally remain cage-free today.

Due to the significant impact of recent Avian influenza outbreaks in Victoria, we have made the decision to pause the transition to cage free for branded (proprietary) shell eggs. This step is necessary to help stabilise national egg supply for our customers who consistently tell us egg availability is important to them.

We take the welfare of animals very seriously and are committed to maintaining more than 85%¹ cage free branded shell eggs and achieving our exit of caged eggs in the long-term. We have decided to extend the cage free target deadline for branded shell eggs to 2030, which will still be ahead of the industry deadline of 2036. As at the end of FY25, 97% of all shell eggs (both Coles Own Brand and proprietary) sold were cage free. Coles Own Brand shell eggs will continue to remain 100% cage free.

While we have made changes to the branded shell egg component of this commitment, we are very close to achieving the further goal of 100% cage free eggs in Coles Own Brand ingredients, and we remain committed to achieving this target. In FY25 we increased the number of Coles Own Brand products converted to cage free to 97%² up from 66% in FY24, and 51% in FY23 and 42% in FY22.

The farms that produce these eggs are certified to Egg Standards Australia (ESA) Level 3 requirements which is audited by independent bodies. This means that Coles Own Brand shell eggs are from hens that are free to display their natural behaviours through access to nest boxes for nesting, perches for perching and litter for dust bathing. In addition, Coles Own Brand free range shell eggs are from hens that are required to have easy access to an outdoor range during the day, shade from the sun and space to roam.

¹ Based on volume sold of eggs in supermarkets for last 4 weeks as at 30 June 2025.

² Does not include combi, enriched or furnished cages. Data is as at end of FY25, includes Coles Own Brand shell egg SKUs and products with egg ingredients. Excludes seasonal products and egg ingredients under 1% of recipe unless already converted to cage-free.

In 2014, we launched Coles Own Brand sow stall free fresh pork which was a first for a major Australian supermarket and in FY21 we completed converting all of our supermarket Coles Own Brand products with pork as an ingredient to sow stall free.

Coles Own Brand fresh pork sold in Coles supermarkets is sow stall free, Australian sourced and undergoes rigorous auditing by independent third-party auditors against the Australian Pork Industry Quality Assurance Program Customer Specifications for Coles Supermarkets Australia Pty Ltd (APIQ + CSC) Pork Standard. All Coles Own Brand fresh pork suppliers are also assessed to more stringent requirements developed by APIQ and Coles on areas such as husbandry practices, stocking densities, antibiotics, growth promotants and hormone use.

This means that all Coles Own Brand pork, ham and bacon sold in Coles supermarkets are sourced from farms that may only confine a sow to a mating station for insemination purposes for a maximum of 24 hours.

This means that sows in APIQ + CSC approved farms are not kept in small, single-pig stalls for long periods during their gestation and are free to move about in pens and socialise with other sows during their gestation.

Coles Own Brand free-range fresh pork is the only RSPCA Approved fresh pork stocked nationally by a major Australian supermarket. Pigs are reared to RSPCA Approved Standards and have space to move, forage, socialise and explore. Sows are not confined to sow stalls or farrowing crates, instead they have good quality bedding in a free farrowing environment which provides a comfortable area to rest and material to perform their natural nesting behaviours.

We also worked with the farm certification arm of Australian Pork Limited (APL) and suppliers on updating the breeding pig environmental enrichment requirement in the APIQ + CSC Standard.

To support adoption of environmental enrichment practices, Coles worked with industry to develop a range of support materials, including a fact sheet on enrichment application and training materials to demonstrate enrichment application methods.

This requirement, ensures breeding pigs have access to environmental enrichment during key periods in their breeding cycle that enables natural behaviours and improves welfare outcomes.

All Coles Own Brand lamb is Australian grown.

In January 2020, we launched Coles Own Brand GRAZE® grass fed fresh lamb across selected stores nationally. In FY23, lambs sourced under the Graze program are Australian grown, grass fed, are free to roam on open pastures and raised without the use of antibiotics.

All Coles Own Brand fresh beef sold in Coles supermarkets has been Australian sourced and with no added hormones since 2011. By not adding hormones, the cattle grow and mature more naturally.

Coles sources cattle from both grain fed, grass fed and grass/grain combination systems. Some grain fed cattle are sourced from feedlots that are accredited and independently audited to the National Feedlot Accreditation Scheme.

Our GRAZE® grass fed beef speciality range, is sourced from Australian farmers in partnership with Coles. Cattle raised under the GRAZE® program are Australian grown, grass fed, and are free to roam on open pastures.

In 2019, we began direct sourcing Coles Own Brand fresh white milk in Victoria and the south coast of New South Wales. Since then, we have continued to expand our milk supply chain to purchase fresh milk from more than 100 dairy farms across Victoria, New South Wales, South Australia, Western Australia and Tasmania.

Coles continues to offer farmers the option of either one, two or three-year agreements, providing them with pricing transparency and income certainty. Simultaneously, this has supported Coles in securing an ongoing supply of fresh milk for customers.

Coles’ direct sourcing model provides dairy farmers with access to the Coles Sustainable Dairy Development Group (CSDDG), which was established to support dairy farmers with sustainability projects. All 109 dairy farms in Coles’ direct sourcing model are part of the CSDDG.

We understand the responsible use of antibiotics in agriculture is an important issue for animal and human health. Coles’ position on antibiotics is one of responsible use, where we follow the guidance of the 5 R’s and Antimicrobial Stewardship (AMS) Framework as detailed by the Animal Health Australia report on Antimicrobial Stewardship in Australian Livestock Industries.

Since 2014, we have worked on supplier programs that incorporate herd health plans, biosecurity measures and alternatives such as probiotics and vaccinations to reduce the need for antibiotic treatment. Through our work with the RSPCA Approved Farming Scheme and the Australian Pork Industry Quality Assurance (APIQ+CSC) program, Coles requires all Coles Own Brand fresh chicken, pork and turkey suppliers to avoid the prophylactic use of antibiotics to suppress sub-clinical diseases wherever possible.

The RSPCA Approved Standards for meat chickens and turkeys require that any use of antibiotics is included as part of the farm’s veterinary health plan and that the RSPCA Approved Farming Scheme is notified of any prophylactic treatment. Producers are also required to have an antimicrobial stewardship plan. For RSPCA Approved free-range pork, any use of antibiotics must be detailed in the producer’s veterinary health plan, which must be reviewed each year in consultation with the attending veterinarian.

Coles is also a member of the Animal Industries’ Antimicrobial Stewardship Stakeholder Group which aims to promote antimicrobial stewardship within agriculture and address issues relating to antimicrobial resistance. This group includes the Office of the Australian Chief Veterinary Officer, state departments of primary industry, international experts in antimicrobial stewardship, and Australian livestock industry representatives from beef, dairy, eggs, pork and chicken meat.

Our program does not allow the use of antibiotics for growth promotion outcomes.

Through preventative measures and good stewardship, we aim to ensure antibiotics are only used when required to treat illness, which will in turn help mitigate resistance.

While palm oil is used in many products around the world, unsustainable farming practices in some countries where oil palms are grown can negatively impact the environment, wildlife and local communities. Coles is a member of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), as well as the Retailers Palm Oil Group (RPOG).

All Coles Own Brand food and drink products that contain palm oil, sold in Coles supermarkets, support the production of sustainable palm oil through the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) certification.¹

This means that within the food and drink supply chain for Coles Own Brand products sold in Coles supermarkets, Coles requires suppliers using palm oil to:

• obtain RSPO Supply Chain Certification for their own supply chain; or 
• be able to demonstrate RSPO Certification for each palm oil ingredient that is incorporated into the Coles Own Brand product.²

We require all our Coles Own Brand product labelling to identify palm oil specifically, rather than using the common term ‘blended vegetable oils’.

We are progressively converting Coles Own Brand non-food products³ and more than 90% of these products contain or support the production of sustainable palm oil.

As we work toward transitioning the remaining 10% of non-food products, we are offsetting our impact by purchasing RSPO ‘book and claim’ credits⁴, which support smallholder palm oil farmers. Smallholder palm oil farmers are small to medium local producers of sustainable palm oil, who operate independently from large-scale plantations and mills. Supporting smallholder farmers not only directly supports local villages and communities, but incentivises environmental protection and restoration initiatives operated by smallholder groups⁵.

¹ For further information see – A global partnership to make palm oil sustainable – Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO).

² RSPO Certification can be achieved in relation to different sourcing models including mass-balance, segregated, and identity preserved. As part of our responsible sourcing program, Coles accepts the mass-balance sourcing model. As part of our initial no deforestation ambition, Coles is aiming to transition certain in-scope products containing palm oil to a higher level of certification to support achieving no-deforestation for these products - refer to our Protecting Forests Statement for further information. 

³ Based on the 2022 Annual Communication of Progress (ACOP) reporting period. The Annual Communication of Progress (ACOP) are reports submitted by RSPO members to gauge their progress towards 100% RSPO Certified Sustainable Palm Oil.

4 An RSPO credit is proof that one tonne of certified palm oil was produced by an RSPO-certified company or independent producer, and has entered the global palm oil supply chain. By purchasing credits, buyers encourage the production of certified sustainable palm oil.

⁵ For more information on the RSPO smallholder support fund visit: https://rspo.org/as-a-smallholder/support-fund/.

We use independent certification or verification programs such as Fairtrade, Rainforest Alliance, Cocoa Horizons and Bonsucro, when sourcing tea, coffee, cocoa and single ingredient packet sugar. This gives customers confidence that these commodities have been sourced ethically and more sustainably and help grow the market for independently certified or verified products.

All tea, coffee and cocoa used in Coles Own Brand products sold in Coles supermarkets, are required to be independently certified or verified to the programs of Fairtrade, Rainforest Alliance¹ or Cocoa Horizons.

¹ https://rspo.org/

Coles supports the Bonsucro program for the sustainable production of sugar cane. Our Coles Own Brand caster, raw, brown, white and icing single ingredient packet sugars are Bonsucro certified.

All Coles Own Brand timber, pulp and paper products source material from forest plantations independently certified to the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC) or Forest Stewardship Council® (FSC®) certification schemes, or from post-consumer recycled fibre.¹

¹ Excludes Coles Own Brand packaging, Timber, Pulp and Paper used as a component in food and drink products and Coles Own Brand products made from viscose, bamboo, rice, hemp, cellulose, rattan, bark, cork, osier, vegetable parchment or other plant-based fibre other than timber.

As part of our initial no-deforestation ambition, Coles is aiming for soy used in feed for Coles Own Brand fresh chicken, turkey, farmed salmon and trout products to have a third-party certification and/or independent supply chain validation that supports no-deforestation by 31 December 2025.¹

The third-party certification and independent supply chain validation systems include:

• Roundtable on Responsible Soy (RTRS)
• International Sustainability & Carbon Certification (ISSC)
• ProTerra
• Viterra Deforestation-Free Soy
• Louis Dreyfus Deforestation-Free Soy
• Cargill Triple S
• Compliance with the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR).

¹ In-scope products are Coles Brand fresh chicken, turkey, salmon and trout products, which are high volume users of soy used in livestock and aquaculture feed. Excludes soy in human food and drink, and all other animal species diets including layer hens (chickens).

For farmed (aquaculture) seafood Coles Own Brand products must be certified¹ by:

• Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC);
• Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP); or
• GLOBALG.A.P.

Farmed seafood products assessed against the ASC Chain of Custody (CoC) Standard carry the ASC logo. Farmed seafood products assessed against BAP or GLOBALG.A.P carry the Coles' Responsibly Sourced Seafood (RSS) logo.

The ASC or Coles Responsibly Sourced seafood logo indicates that the product has come from an independently certified farm. More information on these standards can be found on their respective websites.

¹ Under the Coles Responsibly Sourced Seafood Program, Australian and New Zealand farmed bivalves are deemed responsibly sourced due to the low environmental impact of mollusc aquaculture, and are not required to be certified to a third party standard.

For wild-caught seafood Coles Own Brand products must be:

• Certified to the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) Standards; or
• Independently assessed as meeting the Coles Wild Seafood Assessment Framework (Assessment Framework).

Wild-caught seafood products that carry the MSC logo are:

• sourced from fisheries that are assessed and certified by independent, third parties against the MSC Fisheries Standard; and
• assessed against the MSC Chain of Custody Standard to ensure that these products are from MSC certified fisheries and are traceable and separated from non-certified products.

More about the MSC can be found on its FAQ page.

Coles’ Assessment Framework was developed in collaboration with MRAG Asia Pacific (MRAG AP), an independent fisheries and aquatic resource consulting company. The program builds on the results of supply risk assessments for Coles Own Brand and deli seafood products carried out by WWF-Australia during 2011-2015.

In partnership with fisheries management authorities, all assessments are reviewed on an annual basis to reflect the most up-to-date knowledge. This annual review helps Coles to improve fisheries management and sustainability over time.

The Assessment Framework is structured around three core principles,

Principle 1: Sustainable target fish stocks: A fishery must be conducted in a manner that does not lead to over-fishing or depletion of the exploited populations and, for those populations that are depleted, the fishery must be conducted in a manner that demonstrably leads to their recovery.

Principle 2: Environmental impact of fishing: Fishing operations should allow for the maintenance of the structure, productivity, function and diversity of the ecosystem (including habitat and associated dependent and ecologically related species) on which the fishery depends.

Principle 3: Effective management: The fishery is subject to an effective management system that respects local, national and international laws and standards and incorporates institutional and operational frameworks that require use of the resource to be responsible and sustainable.

Wild-caught seafood products assessed against the Coles Assessment Framework are eligible to carry the Coles' Responsibly Sourced Seafood logo.

For more information, please contact responsiblesourcing@coles.com.au

MSC certified tuna

Tuna is among the world’s most popular fish and therefore among the most commercially valuable¹. With the high demand for tuna, there are stocks that are exploited to full capacity or overfished². Seafood with the MSC blue fish tick provides assurance that fish and seafood products are kept separate from non-MSC certified products throughout the supply chain and that procedures are in place so they can be traced back to MSC certified sustainable fisheries.

For a fishery to be MSC certified means that the following requirements are met:

• Healthy populations of fish stocks: Fisheries operate in a way that prevents overfishing and depletion of targeted populations.
• Impacts on ecosystems minimised: Fisheries minimise impact on non-target species and the natural environment.
• Responsible and effective management: Fisheries demonstrate that they are well managed so that stocks can be fished long-term.

Industry engagement

We acknowledge the potential impacts seafood production can have on the environment, and work collaboratively with our suppliers, NGOs, certification bodies and subject matter experts to look for opportunities to further improve our Coles Responsibly Sourced Seafood Program based on latest science and information.

Human Rights

We acknowledge that protecting human rights in supply chains is a global issue and we understand the important role we have in safeguarding human rights within our complex supply chains. Detailed information regarding our Ethical Sourcing Program is available here.

¹ https://openknowledge.fao.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/66538eba-9c85-4504-8438-c1cf0a0a3903/content/sofia/2024/capture-fisheries-production.html <accessed 29 January 2025>

² https://www.iss-foundation.org/about-issf/what-we-publish/issf-documents/issf-2024-07-status-of-the-world-fisheries-for-tuna-november-2024/ <accessed 29 January 2025>