Policy Documents
Stunning Policy
Waitrose’s stated policy is that all livestock supplying Waitrose meat are pre-stunned before slaughter.
Halal/Kosher in Store
Waitrose does not sell halal-certified meat and has no halal counters or labelled halal fresh meat. It does, however, sell kosher products (all non-stunned, per Jewish law) in some stores.
Sourcing / Suppliers / Country of Origin
- Waitrose has committed to sourcing British beef assured by Red Tractor and, following the 2025 UK–US trade deal, explicitly ruled out sourcing American beef or chicken. There are webpages for each animal. The pages give no reference to frozen meat and poultry so the scope of the information is unclear.
- Chicken: 100% British sourced from Pilgrim’s Europe. Slaughter method is unknown.
- Beef: Look out for beef with Dovecote slaughter codes as these have been verified as non-religiously slaughtered. However, 2 Sister has bought a large share of Dovecote so the situation may change. Be sure to use the Food Code Checker to stay updated.
- Lamb: The webpage states “All our LAMB is BRITISH – all year round”, but Waitrose also sell New Zealand lamb which is incorrect information. Waitrose has a partnership with Pilgrims UK.
Warnings
Waitrose has separately acknowledged that some of its lamb is “Halal blessed” at the point of slaughter (a common practice at some New Zealand abattoirs supplying the UK) even though the animal is pre-stunned and the meat is not marketed, labelled or segregated as halal. NSS research (2018) argued this meant Waitrose’s blanket “all pre-stunned” framing was, in the NSS’s view, “misleadingly” worded, since it implies no religious slaughter element at all, when in fact some lamb does receive a halal blessing (while remaining pre-stunned). Waitrose disputes any suggestion that this meat is “secretly halal” in a consumer-relevant sense, noting the blessing is an abattoir-level practice tied to enabling by-product export, not a Waitrose sourcing requirement.
Note that Waitrose has a partnership with Pilgrim’s UK and it is believed that lamb slaughter is carried out at the Pilgrim’s Llanidloes abattoir which is know to be a significant halal slaughter abattoir. So it is highly likely that the “halal blessing” extends beyond New Zealand lamb.